WHITE PELICANS (Pelecanus erythrorhynchos) are a normal springtime sighting of big birds as the spring season continues to gather momentum. A bird of freshwater lakes and ponds, this large bird is all white except for its black wing tips and outer secondary feathers. A wingspan of nearly ...

ROBINS are just one surefire indicator of spring. Hurray for their arrival. Hurray for their tenacity to adapt and overcome weather obstacles as they journey northward. Soon more robins will follow, and other migrating birds will start to arrive at our mid latitude sites. Many of us human ...

Beaver (Castor canadensis), is this week’s featured creature. Last week while I was exploring natural areas adjacent to the Iowa River, I spotted at a distance several cottonwood trees with damaged bases. It turns out the damage was caused by the teeth of beavers who had made serious ...

Wild turkeys find the spotlight for this weekend edition of Outdoors Today. I located this flock while passing by a nearby roadway. With a camera and its long telephoto lens, this scribe captured another moment of time when wildlife was just going about their business of survival. It was ...

Hibernation: this entire idea came to this author’s attention again during a casual conversation with several friends. They were commenting on our recent cold air weather pattern that made them say “I wish I could hibernate.” For us humans that idea is something we can attempt to ...

Barred owls are common in Iowa. Their year around range as a non-migratory bird of prey is all of eastern USA and much of Canada, Yukon territory, Alaska and the northern Rocky Mountains. It hunts at night for small animals such as squirrels, chipmunks, mice, voles, rabbits and birds up to ...