Blog

Too many things happening so far in June to take time to write a blog. But here are some of my distractions . . .

Not since Mark Twain has any river rat captured the essence of the Mississippi River better than the late John Madson, with his 1985 classic, “Up on the River.” Long out of print, the book now is available again, thanks to the University of Iowa Press and Bur Oak Books. It is appropriately subtitled “People

Savoring wild plum blossoms Hearing the first witchety-witchety calls of the yellowthroat Listening to a chorus of other warblers – whether or not I can name the songsters Watching the turkeys strut on the distant hill, oblivious to yelps from my box call Thrilling to the unique chortle of a sandhill crane, then spying the

OK. So the Iowa Natural Resources Commission has voted to open Iowa’s first mourning dove hunting season since 1918. Now comes the REAL challenge! After decades of rancorous, divisive debate, it’s time for people on both sides of the issue to finally demonstrate how much we love the doves we’ve been arguing about. Can we

Blogger’s note: Sorry for this gloomy posting when we all should be out enjoying spring flowers and birds. But far too many Iowans have had that experience marred by the smell of CAFOs. Science Says CAFOs Pollute In their attempts to defend industrial livestock operations, spokespersons for the Iowa Farm Bureau and others often ignore

In between . . . The calendar says it’s officially still winter. But red-winged blackbirds and robins have returned to the Turkey River valley. Chickadees and cardinals and tufted titmice are whistling their spring love songs. Some bald eagles are sitting on eggs. (Check out this amazing live nest camera!) http://www.raptorresource.org/falcon_cams/ Ice chunks lay stranded

Be it luck, fate, or cowardice, we savored the warmth and sun of Florida during the late January/early February wintery mix that pounded Iowa and much of the rest of the country. While our driveway was filling up with a foot of snow, we were visiting Key West, the southernmost point on the continental      U.

Humans think WE have it tough! It took an hour to blade out the driveway after the last big snow. I couldn’t make it to town for a loaf of bread because the roads were icy. Another evening meeting got cancelled due to weather. Our firewood supply is dwindling because of the cold snap. The

OK, I admit it. With the deer hunting season behind us, I felt a twinge of guilt for killing the animals that we so delight in watching and photographing the rest of the year. But then, as we enjoy venison roast, or stew, or lasagna, or loin, I rationalize that humans also are a part

Thinking of winter? Our turkey vultures have gone south. Wooly bears have been scurrying across the highway for several weeks. Rust-colored leaves still cling to the oaks, but most other trees have shed their foliage. The juncos arrived from the north a month ago. A purple finch stopped briefly at our feeder. All these signs