For the past 12 summers, I’ve been observing the daily activities at a red-tailed hawk nest located near the south shore of Clear Lake.  This year, the hawks successfully raised two young.  Out of the nest and on the wing, the fledglings are currently learning to hunt for themselves.  Their first inexperienced and clumsy attempts
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  There’s a big change for this year’s duck season.  For the first time since the 1960s, Iowa waterfowlers will have an opportunity to participate in a Special Teal Only Hunting Season.  The statewide 16-day season begins Saturday, September 6 and runs through September 21.  Authorized by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, the hunt is
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  It’s late July, and I’ve arrived at my destination just in time to see the sun rise above the Mississippi River.  I’m perched atop the towering wall of a 350-foot, limestone cliff face overlooking the river.  Needless to say, the view is spectacular as the eastern horizon explodes into brilliant hues of orange and gold. 
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    Pike's Peak is one of Iowa's best known state parks.  Offering clean campgrounds, spectacular views of the Mississippi River, and an interlinking  maze of beautiful woodland hiking trails; Pike's Peak has something for everyone.  Last week, Carol and I decided to take advantage of the abnormally cool July weather and explore the park's trail system. 
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  It was a cold, late spring.  But the summer weather is heating up and at long last, this year's crop of wild raspberries is coming on strong.  For my money, few treats taste better than a dish of vanilla ice cream covered in black raspberries at the end of a long,  hot day.  Competition is
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  Comedian Rodney Dangerfield was best known for his trademark phrase, "I don't get no respect." I suspect that, if the lowly mulberry bush had feelings, it could relate.  Although few fruit bearing plants annually produce a more abundant crop, most people ignore or even scorn this tasty and nutritious wild edible.  Although there are many reasons 
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   Lots of rainfall.  Lots of spring and summer ponds.  Lots of nesting ducks during 2014.  That’s the official summary for this year’s North American Breeding Duck and Habitat Survey released this week by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service.  From North Country lakes to the Gulf Coast bayous, the annual report spells good news for
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  Torrential downpours and flash flooding seem to have dominated much of the June weatherscape.  And although it may not compare with the devastation seen during last year's never ending rainfall, area fields and woodlands are plenty wet.   Surplus moisture, coupled with warming temperatures, has created an ideal climate for the production of summer mushrooms. 
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  The guy standing ahead of me at the grocery checkout had just placed four jars of grape jelly on the counter.  Grape jelly.  That was it; nothing else. “Orioles,” he said with a grin.  “I’ve never seen so many.  They’re almost eating us out of house and home.” “These jars will be empty in a week,” he
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  With its distinctive zebra-striped head, crow sized body, and maniacal call, the pileated woodpecker is in a league of its own.  It is one of my favorite woodland birds. Finding an active territory is easy.  The equivalent of feathered jack hammers; pileateds employ powerful chiseled beaks to whack away three and four-inch chunks of bark
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  Once they’ve been at it for a few seasons, most mushroom hunters will have amassed a collection of stories recounting their grandest moments in the spring woodlands.  Most tales are accounts of big hauls and mother lodes.  We’ve struck it big a time or two ourselves, and the ‘big finds’ never fail to provide cherished
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    Only got close to one turkey today [a hen], but there were plenty of other interesting things to observe in Iowa's spring woodlands.  Plum, and other, blossoms are really beginning to perfume the woods.  What an incredible time of year!