Washburn’s Outdoor Journal

Photography courtesy of Lowell Washburn, all rights reserved. Moving from one home to another is never an easy task, especially if you’re a mother with eight growing kids to look after. That’s the Moving Day scene that unfolded when I […]

Photography courtesy of Lowell Washburn, all rights reserved.   Iowa turkey hunters harvested 12,173 gobblers during this year’s five-part spring hunting season which ended May 22. According to the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, the harvest represents the largest number

Photography courtesy of Lowell Washburn, all rights reserved.                 The spring migration of blue-winged teal through Iowa is one of my favorite outdoor events.  Teal are rarely at rest during spring migration; courtship flights

Photography courtesy of Lowell Washburn, all rights reserved.  A nearly impenetrable fortress of mature oak, wild grape, and dense gooseberry has helped to keep Bill’s pond a well-kept secret. Small but mighty, the shallow wetland is barely twenty yards in

Photography courtesy of Lowell Washburn, all rights reserved.   Although the peak of this year’s morel mushroom crop is past, the hunt is not over.  A mix of generally favorable temperatures and ample moisture is sustaining the harvest for hunters scouring the

Photography courtesy of Lowell Washburn, all rights reserved.   Biologists, duck hunters, birders, and wildlife enthusiasts in general have long debated the question of whether or not drake wood ducks enter nesting cavities as pairs prospect for potential nest sites.

Photography courtesy of Lowell Washburn, all rights reserved.  The possibility of hearing and seeing wild turkeys is one of the best excuses I know for making predawn visits to the spring woodlands.  If you happen to carrying a valid turkey tag, well then so

Photography courtesy of Lowell Washburn, all rights reserved.   By the time sun appeared on the eastern horizon, I had counted a total of 15 trumpeter swans sitting in an open area of the marsh. It was the largest number

Photography courtesy of Lowell Washburn, all rights reserved.   Spring has arrived; and beautiful yellow dandelions are beginning to bloom. Not everyone shares my enthusiasm for the event. For friends that I categorize as ultra-urbanized lawn care fanatics, the annual

Photography courtesy of Lowell Washburn, all rights reserved.  WILD TURKEY SENDS IOWA HUNTER TO HOSPITAL EMERGENCY ROOM McGregor, Ia.—For retired conservation officer and veteran turkey slayer Steve Schutte, the 2009 spring hunting season ended with a bang, a slash, and