Aug 30, 2015
CUSTER, SD–With symmetrically curved horns and sure footed agility, the Rocky Mountain bighorn is one of North America’s best known and most spectacular forms of wildlife. The closest populations of wild bighorns [to Iowa] exist among the higher elevations of South Dakota’s Black Hills National Forest and in the nearby Badlands National Park....
Aug 18, 2015
It’s late August. Right on schedule, this year’s crop of annual cicadas are making their above ground debut as the distinctive chorus of hopeful males is beginning to fill the sultry summer atmosphere. With volumes exceeding 100 decibels, the ear piercing trill is impossible to miss. Louder than most lawn mowers; the cicada’s song is the insect...
Aug 15, 2015
“. . . there was nothing to see but prairie, green stretches of grassland rolling quietly outward till lost in the haze that trembled on the horizon.” – Norwegian immigrant Laurence Larson describing his l870’s arrival in Winnebago County. THOMPSON– Even by rural Iowa standards, Winnebago County’s Linden Township Cemetery is...
Aug 4, 2015
It’s late summer and the season is moving on. In the woodlands bordering Iowa’s lake and river systems, the last of this year’s crop of green herons are leaving the nest. Cloaked in a bizarre mix of baby fuzz and half grown feathers, the gangling birds aren’t much to look at — at least at this stage of their life. With stubby wing feathers still...
Born in North Central Iowa, Lowell Washburn has enjoyed a lifelong interest in the out of doors. He began photographing wild birds at age 10, and outdoor photography soon became his passion and eventually a career. Washburn is best known for images that portray migratory waterfowl and other wetland wildlife in their natural habitats. His best photographs are often obtained after spending hours floating amid natural marshlands, half submerged within the dark confines of a floating muskrat house blind.
Upon completing military service as a sergeant with the Fourth Infantry Division in the central highlands of South Vietnam, Washburn returned to Iowa in 1970. His wildlife photos began appearing in Iowa newspapers in 1971 and he began authoring outdoor news columns in 1978. Today, his photos and writing have appeared in over 50 national and international magazines including Outdoor Life, International Wildlife, Field&Stream, Ducks Unlimited, Pointing Dog Journal, the NAFA Journal, and others.
After working as a naturalist for Iowa’s county conservation board system, Washburn was recruited by the Department of Natural Resources in 1984. His primary duties included statewide communication with Iowa newspaper, television, and radio news agencies with a primary goal of increasing the level of public awareness and appreciation for Iowa's natural resources. During his tenure he also served as staff member for the Iowa Conservationist Magazine and for the DNR’s Iowa Outdoors Magazine. Washburn retired from the DNR in 2010.
In addition to wildlife photography, his ongoing outdoor passions include falconry, traditional bow hunting, waterfowling, spending time with hunting dogs of all types, and herpetology.