Antlers from Iowa whitetailed deer bucks are always treasured, no matter how big or small, when a person is out and about in natural settings and happens to look down at just the right time to see the antler or a portion of it protruding through leaf litter. So they reach down and pull the ...

A wintertime great-get-away is close by. Not too far southwest of Prairie City is the Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge. A block of land originally comprising 3,600 acres was originally acquired by Iowa Power and Light Company (now MidAmerica Energy) to build a nuclear power plant. That ...

Cardinal birds and winter go together. No matter what the winter weather may be, one can almost always count on seeing cardinals coming and going to bird feeding stations. While hiking into and along nature trails at any county park, cardinals may be observed along with other non-migratory bird ...

Happy new year to all the readers of this column. We begin a journey today for another chapter involving outdoor adventures of all kinds, of wildlife sightings and sharings of all kinds, and general observations of all things natural history related that I hope to bring to your attention. As we ...

TRUMPETER SWANS may be found near open water sources this time of year. And it is also possible to see them in the middle of an open picked corn field. Such was the case earlier this week while driving into Marshalltown. Out there, in the middle of a corn field not too far from West Summit ...

UNCOMMON BIRDS may show up almost anywhere. Being at the right place at the right time can be a planned excursion into Mother Nature’s realm of habitats where sightings are likely or just the casual observation at one’s backyard bird feeding station. Today’s photographs illustrate both ...