May 27, 2019
Late May is a time that no Iowa birding enthusiast would care to miss. With thousands of northbound songbirds arriving at local woodlands daily, it is one the year’s premier outdoor events – the grand finale of the spring migration. Rose-Breasted Grosbeak The diversity is daunting. More than 200 bird species nest in or migrate through Iowa each...
May 15, 2019
It’s been several years since I’ve killed a wild turkey with a shotgun. When I first started pursuing the birds during the late 1970s, my weapon of choice was a muzzleloading Navy Arms 12-bore. Fitted with straight cylinder bore barrels, the scattergun’s range was restricted to around 20 yards; 15 was optimum. Not exactly what you’d describe as a...
May 7, 2019
Forty degrees. Clear skies. Moderate breeze. Hard to imagine more perfect conditions for a morning turkey hunt. Things were already looking good. The stars were just beginning to fade when, from farther back in the oaks, a roosted gobbler began to go completely off his rocker. Deciding not to move any closer, I quickly popped up my archery blind at the...
May 2, 2019
The performance begins at sunset. As the evening sky explodes into a dazzling array of color; a long-billed, oddly-shaped, quail-sized bird rises from the forest floor. Spiraling ever higher, the creature soon becomes a speck, hovering more than 300 hundred feet above its woodland home. With the flight now at its zenith, the bird suddenly folds its wings...
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.