Iowa’s small game hunting seasons are just around the corner.  Cottontail rabbits, fox squirrels and gray squirrels become legal game September 4th.  Pheasant hunting begins with a two-day youth hunt on October 23 & 24th followed by the regular season which runs from October 30 through January 10, 2022. The best indicator of what this year’s
Read More

The melody was diagnostic.  A great crested flycatcher was singing from the treetops.  I couldn’t see the bird, of course.  Inhabiting the uppermost layers of the forest canopy, the species’ whereabouts is usually obscured by summer vegetation.  This is one bird that is definitely more often heard than seen.  Consequently, most folks remain unfamiliar with
Read More

“There was nothing to see but prairie, green stretches of grassland rolling quietly outward ‘till lost in the haze that trembled on the horizon.” – Those words are excerpted from the 1870’s logbook of Norwegian immigrant, Laurence Larson upon his arrival in Winnebago County, Iowa. A bumblebee collects pollen from a stand of purple prairie clover For contemporary
Read More

The iconic Blanding’s turtle is facing hard times.  By hard times, I mean the species has become so rare that most Iowans – even those who spend considerable time prowling the out-of-doors -- will never see so much as a single Blanding’s in their lifetimes. Although more than a century of wetland drainage has negatively affected
Read More

Following decades of silence, some of Iowa’s most secretive reptiles have begun emitting radio signals from the watery depths of Eagle Lake.  Twelve hours on and twelve hours off, the daily transmissions are being closely monitored by a team of wildlife diversity experts with the Iowa DNR.  The rapidly accumulating data is contributing to a
Read More

The wild mulberry is one of my favorite summer taste treats.  With this year’s mulberry crop currently reaching full maturity, it’s time to grab your bucket and head for the woods.  Wild Mulberries – sweet and nutritious As healthy as they are tasty, mature mulberries pack a nutritional wallop.  A single cupful contains 60 high energy calories:
Read More

The spring songbird migration is winging northward.  And while the larger and more colorful species – such as tanagers, orioles, and grosbeaks – tend to steal the annual show, there are other interesting, though less conspicuous, species that often tend to go unnoticed. Two of my favorites in this category are the white-throated and Harris’ sparrows. 
Read More

The much-anticipated, spring mushroom season is underway.  And although several mushroom species are edible, the famed morel reigns as undisputed king.  Exactly when morels populations will achieve peak numbers is an ever-popular topic of debate.  There are some trustworthy indicators.  Two of the most reliable are temperature and moisture.  In order to fruit, morel mushrooms
Read More

There was no colorful sunrise.  No brilliant transition of night turning to day.  Instead, there was just a gradual increase of light among the solemn hues of an overcast morning.   I was sitting at the edge of a small wetland located within a mature stand of oaks.  The shallow oasis is a one my favorite
Read More

One robin may not make a spring, but when the turkey vultures return to Max Clausen’s barn, you can rest assured the season has changed.  Clausen’s barn is located on The Nature Conservancy’s Clausen’s Cove Area which adjoins Clear Lake’s south shore.  For the past five years, vultures have returned to make their nests in
Read More

This year’s Spring Turkey Seasons begin April 9th with a special youth only hunt, followed by the first of four regular hunting seasons beginning April 12.  The final segment of the five-part, spring season concludes May16.  The seasons allows both shotgun and bow hunting, and Iowa hunters may purchase a total of two spring turkey
Read More

The spring waterfowl migration is one of my favorite events on the annual outdoor calendar.  Anxious to get to northern nesting grounds, the first flocks of ducks began dotting the Iowa skies as soon as area wetlands began to thaw.  Once open water appears, migrant numbers steadily escalate as temperatures warm.  A mixed flock of northbound
Read More