Winter bird feeding has become one of Iowa’s most popular cold weather pastimes.  Strategically placed feeders provide we humans with fascinating, through-the-window entertainment while, at the same time, saving foraging winter birdlife valuable time and energy.  During periods of extreme weather, bird feeders have the potential to increase wildlife survival.  Simply put, bird feeders are
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“Have you thus sat on a snowy day and squinted through the white curtain at those mail-carrying bluebills?  Until you have courted bluebills in the snow, you have not tasted of the purer delights of waterfowling.” -- Gordon MacQuarrie, Outdoor Editor, Milwaukee Journal                       _______________________________________________ Gordon MacQuarrie first penned those words in November 1937.  In the 85
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It’s late fall.  The days are getting shorter, the nights cooler.  Crisp sunrise landscapes are white with frost.  For Iowa’s 60,000 archery deer hunters, the message is clear.  Time has come to literally climb a tree.  Deer hunters, like the game they pursue, come in all shapes and sizes.  But although exterior appearances may vary, deer
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 With temperatures headed for the basement; it was time to make my move Have I ever told you how much I love wood ducks?  They’re unique in every way and I’ll do whatever it takes to watch, photograph and, of course, to hunt them.  One of the many traits that makes them so endearing is that
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The ruby-throated hummingbird is one of Iowa’s most endearing examples of backyard birdlife.  Although hummingbirds nest throughout the state, they are never more plentiful than during fall migration.   Beginning in late August, visitors from as far away as northern Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Ontario, Canada will have begun arriving in Iowa.  Although hummingbird numbers usually peak
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One of the things I enjoy most about Iowa’s early duck seasons – in addition to the ducks, of course – are the sights and sounds provided by the vast diversity of life forms that make the autumn marsh their home. Some days are more dramatic than others and my latest best example occurred near the
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Iowa’s cattail marshlands represent one of our greatest natural treasures.  Marshlands aid in flood control, store surface water, and recharge vital underground aquifers.  But wetlands are most famous for their wildlife.  Marshes provide homes for hundreds of resident and migratory wildlife species ranging from mink to mallards, from dragonflies to egrets.  In spite of all this
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Tempus fugit.  I think what those words mean is -- Time Flies When You’re Huntin’ Ducks.  I’m sitting in a duck blind right now, enjoying some leftover grilled teal as I watch as some live ones swim about.  Hard to believe that it is already the last day of this year’s special, sixteen-day Iowa teal
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Our nights are becoming cooler; the days growing shorter.  Right on schedule, monarch butterflies are winging their way across the Iowa skies.  Enroute to ancestral wintering grounds, the migration provides an annual explosion of color.  Of all the wonders the Iowa outdoors has to offer, perhaps none is greater; perhaps none is harder to fathom
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This year’s multi-segmented duck hunting seasons kick off with a special, 16-day teal-only hunt beginning September 1.  Providing outdoor enthusiasts with more than two weeks of bonus, back-to-back, sunrise to sunset recreational opportunities, Iowa’s special teal seasons haven proven to be the best single change in waterfowl regulations in the past fifty years.  A flock of
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On the Hunt – A red-sided garter searches for prey. Leopard frogs and American toads provide common summer menu items. Spend much time exploring Iowa’s summer marshlands, and you’re likely to encounter a somewhat colorful reptile known as the red-sided garter snake.  The species is named for the obvious red dash marks that occur between the
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For those who enjoy outdoor foraging, July is the month that keeps on giving.  As we roll into midsummer, North Iowans are presented with an abundance of wild, healthy, and highly nutritional foods that are free for the taking.  Summer woodlands currently abound with an array of wild edibles including several varieties of mushrooms, raspberries,
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