Iowa’s fall dove season begins Sept. 1st, when around ten thousand licensed hunters are expected to take to the fields in search of North America’s most abundant migratory gamebird. According to U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service surveys, dove populations in the “Lower 48” stood at 279 million on September 1, 2016. During the 2016 dove
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    When leaves fall and autumn winds blow, Iowa duck hunters can anticipate a strong migration of southbound waterfowl during 2017. That’s the official assessment from this year’s North American Breeding Duck and Habitat Survey released today by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. Conducted every year since 1955, the continent-wide annual survey measures trends in duck
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  Smelly and disgusting, the scene was anything but pretty. No one would argue that the highway cleanup crew was facing a nasty job. But in spite of sweltering summer heat, foul odor, and grisly conditions; the crew was enthusiastically engaged in the task at hand. It was a dirty job, and they were doing it. In
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  For Iowa deer hunters, it’s never too early to start thinking of fall. I was reminded of this fact this morning when, just after sunrise, I spotted a group containing four mature, bachelor bucks. Standing in an open grassland, the deer were a sight to behold. The antlers on three of the bucks had already
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      The best things are always worth fighting for. For the past several days, I’ve been fighting. Fighting with deer, fighting with robins, fighting with catbirds. We’re fighting every day. Fighting at breakfast, lunch and dinner. Perhaps competing is a better term. My – or maybe I should now say our -- favorite stands of wild
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                       With The Highest Extinction Rate of Any Animals                    Land Snails                   Are First Alert Indicators Of A Healthy Environment McGREGOR, IOWA: Extreme northeastern Iowa is a naturalist’s paradise. Everything about the region is fascinating. The rugged bluff country landscape, the fish, the wildlife, the plants – all seem to be in a league of their own.
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  With its crow-sized body, zebra striped head, and flamboyant Mohawk hair do; the spectacular pileated woodpecker would be hard to mistake for any other bird. With a voice matching its size, the pileated is the loudest bird of the forest. So much so, that the species’ maniacal call provided inspiration for the popular Woody the
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    The pileated woodpecker is one of the most fascinating, though least seen, birds of the Iowa woodlands. Although always in high demand with birders, in depth observations do not come easy. During more than four decades of outdoor photography, I’ve only had opportunity to observe three active pileated nests. One of those rare events occurred
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  Even when you’re attached to a rope that’s anchored to a tree, stepping into thin air off the top of a 200-foot vertical cliff takes no small measure of courage. But stepping off into thin air is exactly what David Kester did earlier this week at a limestone rock face located on the Mississippi River
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There are just some things that a person can’t get enough of. Like observing and listening to wild turkeys as they move about in their natural woodland habitats.  Iowa’s spring hunting seasons are over, of course. But that doesn’t necessarily mean that anyone has to quit messin’ with willing gobblers. It just means that you
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  If the sight of the first robin signals the arrival of spring; then what sign would we use to mark the beginning of summer? According to government time keepers, the answer is simple. Summer officially begins with the summer solstice which, in Iowa, will occur on June 20 at 11:24 pm. But although the solstice
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  With its elegantly crested head and spectacular plumage, the wood duck is one of Iowa’s best known and most popular waterfowl. Most folks are also familiar with the woodie’s unusual woodpecker-like habit of nesting inside natural tree cavities or nest boxes instead of on the ground like other ducks. Fewer, however, may be aware that another
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