Sep 23, 2020
Abandoning their summer homes in the North Country, tiny wood warblers are on the move. For Iowa birding enthusiasts, the season’s most challenging migration has begun. I use the word challenging because no other grouping of birds is more difficult to correctly identify than autumn warblers. Magnolia warber Even when warblers are bedecked in...
Sep 21, 2020
Triplets: Joyce Klunder called the other day. She lives at the west end of Clear Lake in the Ventura Heights and wanted to report that she had just seen a white-tailed deer with fawns near the entrance of the Heights bike trail. Although seeing a doe with her spotted offspring is always a heart-warming sight, the event usually doesn’t...
Sep 3, 2020
They say that timing is everything. I think most of us would agree with that statement. I’d also add that rarely has that well known phrase been more dramatically illustrated than during this year’s September 1st opening of Iowa’s 2020 Teal Season. Reinstated by the feds in 2014, Iowa teal seasons are designed to intercept southbound...
Sep 1, 2020
I bought another small farm last week. I’m still pretty excited about that. OK, so I should probably note that it’s only a plastic Ant Farm, but I’m excited just the same. I know you might be wondering why a guy my age would purchase a product that’s normally found in the kiddie section of the local hobby shop. Good...
Aug 18, 2020
The first of this year’s fall waterfowl seasons begins with a special, 16-day teal hunt opening September 1. The purpose of the statewide early season is to provide Iowa duck hunters with an opportunity to pursue flocks of early migrating blue-winged teal. Although blue-wings occur as an abundant nester across the Dakotas and prairie Canada, the...
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.