AUGUST has arrived. Seven months of the year 2021 are history. So what can we all look forward to during this typically last warm (or hot) weather month? If history is our guide, anything can happen regarding weather issues….hot and dry, hot and rainy, cooler days intermixed just for interest, and perhaps wind and thunderstorms. We all pray for no new strong straight line wind events as experienced last Aug. 10, 2020 that caused so much damage with some winds reaching 140 mph. Calmer skies are much more likely. Only Mother Nature will decide how the history books for August 2021 will be recorded.

You can count on these August happenings: Our day length on Aug. 1 is 14 hours and 26 minutes at our latitude. By the 31st of August we will have lost one hour and 14 minutes to put that day length at 13 hours 12 minutes. Shorter days are telling us of the inevitable seasonal turn toward autumn that will happen during September. Our earth remains on its course around the Sun and that is very good.

Aug. 1 is the beginning of a new roadside wildlife survey by Iowa DNR officers and biologists. August roadside counts have been conducted since 1962 over the same standardized routes. There are 218 routes across Iowa. Each route is 30 miles long. Data collected by the observers is one way to measure nesting success of pheasants and quail, rabbits, partridge and even a few jackrabbits near long term grassland habitats. A best case time to conduct a roadside survey in on a morning with clear skies, calm winds and heavy dew. Hen pheasants tend to move their broods of young to a gravel roadside to assist in drying off their feathers before a new day of feeding begins. Todd Bogenschutz, DNR upland wildlife biologist, expects pretty much a status quo with perhaps a slight increase in population trend numbers. He bases that prediction on last winter weather patterns, a nice warm up in March and April and a relatively dry spring. Results of the 2021 roadside survey will be posted in early September.

Also at the beginning of August, duck and dove banding will take place in select areas. Hummingbirds have about one month left before their urge to migrate south takes on a firm grip. One new hummingbird nest I am keeping tabs on has two eggs. And this nest is the second nesting for the pair and they are using the same nest that raised two hummers a month and one-half ago. They will have time to bring off this brood before all travel south for the winter.

If one can locate a wetland with adequate water remaining, look for muskrats building huts, those heaps or mounds of vegetation that will eventually become their fall and winter home. Aug. 5 is a typical start date for muskrat activity to increase. White-tailed deer bucks will soon have fulfilled all the new antler growth for the year. Antlers are covered at this time with a soft outside tissue called velvet. As shortening day lengths happen, hormone production in buck deer changes, and the velvet will begin to come off by mid month. The blood supply to the new antlers has done its job and is no longer needed. A note for deer hunters: Aug. 15 is when 2021 deer hunting licenses go on sale.

Birds know August is a prelude to the coming fall season. Swallows may be seen congregating in large flocks. Look for long lines of them perched on power lines before they make the big move southward. Shorebirds will also begin migration behaviors. Many of their slow but inevitable journey takes place at night. So any wetland area such as Hendrickson Marsh should be checked daily during August. New arrivals and departures can happen quickly. By the end of August pelican migration will be a priority for these large majestic water birds.

And lastly, we all know and want to see the return of the Iowa State Fair, Aug. 12 – 22. This traditional Iowa event offers lots of things to see and do, including an acknowledgement of the hard work by 4-H and FFA members who have livestock show ring preparations to showcase.

Our IOWA RIVER is running low and slow because a drier than normal summer, so far, because a lack of rain events has not recharged subsurface soil strata. The water in the river is so low that exposed sand bars have had sufficient time to allow seeds and other vegetation to grow. Green sandbars are evident in today’s photograph I made looking west toward Timmons Grove from my vantage point over the old railroad trestle bridge. Low water levels and very low flow rates make it easy to see all kinds of sandbars above or just below the surface. For canoeists or kayakers, low flows may actually be a bit too low for fun paddling. One can walk the Iowa river above Marshalltown and get your ankles wet and knees dry.

Right now the river gauge level is reading 9.20 feet and a cubic feet per second flow of 217. That is low and slow indeed. By the way, a stage reading of 9.20 feet is only a relative number set by the Corps of Engineers. It equates to 862.30 feet above sea level as of July 28. Marshalltown is 222.8 miles above the mouth of the Iowa River at the Mississippi River. And the drainage area above Marshalltown within the Iowa River watershed is 1,532 square miles. The watershed begins at Crystal Lake in Hancock County as a tiny trickle from the outlet.

In contrast to the low flow now, consider what happened on July 2, 2014. You may remember on that date in history the Iowa River flooded big time. The gauge station recorded its highest ever crest at Marshalltown of 22.25 feet, a 13.05 foot increase over today’s meager trickle. Lots of rain events in 2014 combined to create conditions for a massive flood. And that high flow rate cut off Marshalltown from all highways and roadways going north from the City…highways 14, 330 and even North Center Street were under water.

We need to be mindful of what we ask of Mather Nature. She in like a casino….where the house always wins. The duty of us humans is to adapt as best we can.l

HUNTER SAFETY CLASS is now taking reservations for the Marshall County area and adjacent vicinity. This marks a return to a normal class schedule of two times. Let me explain. The course contains 10 hours of instruction: three hours on Thursday evening from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m., Aug. 26 plus the following Saturday from 8 a.m. until 4 p.m., Aug. 28. All will take place at the Marshall County Izaak Walton League Chapter grounds located two miles south of Marshalltown on Smith Avenue. Sign up must be completed online by registering at https://events.gooutdoorsiowa.com. This course will have a return of supervised live firing of shotguns and rifles for the students. There will be classroom presentations on safety and conservation issues/ethics. An archery demonstration will showcase bows and arrows plus trailing a simulated deer hunt via following a trail of fake blood. A hunter safety certificate obtained by the students is a one and done endeavor, hopefully, that is recognized in all 50 states and many Canada Provinces as proof of having taken and passed an approved hunter education course.

Garry Brandenburg is the retired director of the Marshall County Conservation Board. He is a graduate of Iowa State University with a BS degree in Fish & Wildlife Biology.

Contact him at:

P.O. Box 96

Albion, IA 50005