The Rhinelander Daily News - Online news and information for the Rhinelander, Wisconsin region

“Sweetening one’s coffee is generally the first stirring event of the day.” — Anonymous

Mighty nice in the woodlands of our town this week — the lilacs are out and the woodlands are decorated with the white blossoms of the juneberry trees. To add beauty to our environment, the flowering crabs are at their best. Despite the slow weather we have had, it didn’t slow Mother Nature down — she produced the beauty and lilacs earlier than usual this Spring. The Northwoods is beautiful this Spring, and we’re happy and lucky to be here.

Hummers here

Many of the IRL students have hummers at their feeders. What wonderful and interesting birds they are. Here are some hummer facts from the latest issue of Birds and Blooms — their hummingbird special edition.

- Hummingbirds have 40 to 60 taste buds. Humans possess about 10,000.

- Hummingbirds do not migrate in flocks. They fly alone.

- Hummingbirds beat their wings about 50 times a second, so they appear as a blur.

- While resting, a hummingbird takes 250 breaths per minute.

- Hummingbirds can’t fly until their body temperature reaches 86 degrees.

- Hummingbirds have large flight muscles, about 25 percent of their body weight.

- Hummingbirds are named for the sound their wings make while they fly.

- The oldest hummingbird recorded was 14 years old.

- Male hummingbirds don’t help raise their young.

- It would take 150 average-sized male hummingbirds to equal one pound.

- Thanks to excellent memories, hummingbirds often return to the same flowers or feeders year after year.

I

t’s exciting to see the grayish or black throat patch of a male hummer change instantly to a fiery red when the hummer darts into the sunlight. The Indians called the change “hummingbird magic.”

According to writers Don and Lillian Stokes, once a female rubythroat comes into a male’s territory and mates with him, she leaves the territory, builds a nest and raises young on her own. The male remains and continues to mate with any other females that enters his territory.

Fawns on their way

Whitetail deer are beginning to birth their fawns. It isn’t unusual for the doe to leave her fawn and move a short distance away, giving the impression that the fawn is abandoned. If you should find a fawn by itself, or any other young wild animal for that matter, please give it a wide berth and don’t disturb it. Chances are the mother is nearby, and out of sight. If you are concerned about a particular animal, call a DNR conservation warden or wildlife specialist for advice.

Wisconsin’s State Natural Areas

Oneida County has four areas — Holmboe Conifer Forest, Rice Lake, Thunder Lake Marsh, and Wind Pudding Lake.

One tree has great value

From “Forestry Update,” I have learned that a tree is so valuable — to such a point that it stretches my imagination. (1) A tree generates $31,250 worth of oxygen. (2) Provides $62,000 worth of air pollution control. (3) Provides home for animals worth $31,250. (4) Recycles $37,500 worth of water. (5) Controls soil erosion worth $31,250. Over a 50-year lifetime the total worth of one tree is $193,250.

Life among the birds

The sapsuckers are here. These small woodpeckers are boring sap wells in the trees — those that are diseased or stressed. Ken Wardius, writing in Wisconsin’s Natural Resources Magazine, says: “Sapsuckers have been known to imbibe fermented sap and become intoxicated yellow-bellies.

They lose coordination and fly in erratic paths, or in several instances, flutter helplessly to the ground.”

The young loons that hatched last summer will not return this spring to the Northwoods. They will remain in the coastal waters.

Interesting nature notes

The woodticks have emerged from their winter quarters. A female may lay as many as 6,000 eggs. To evolve from an egg to an adult takes three months. If necessary, they can go without food for two years. It is not uncommon for the ticks to climb up the trees and then fall down on their victims — they usually wait in the grass.

I can’t understand why we have such trouble growing grass in our front yard when it shoots up like a weed in every driveway crack.

Feeding Orioles

Want to try luring orioles to your feeder? First, catch their eye. Tie a brilliant orange ribbon or a bunch of silk flowers to your feeder. Offer fruit. Halved oranges can be impaled on sturdy dowels stuck into the ground under drooping tree branches. Stick a few atop a fence, on nails on your deck railing, or anywhere orioles are likely to see them.

Nectar can be offered in a short, wide-mouthed jar (baby food or condiment jars are ideal). Twist a wire around the jar neck, add a bright ribbon or silk flower, and fill with a 4:1 water / sugar solution. There’s no need to add coloring to the nectar. Hang near large trees.

Some people swear by grape jelly as an oriole pleaser. You can offer it in the same small jars described above. Once they’re coming to your feeding station, offer suet, chopped summer fruits, and mealworms.

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