Wild of the Week: Sunday notes, Chicago outdoors

Led by Wild of the Week, Sunday notes from the Sun-Times outdoors page.

WILD OF THE WEEK

Mark Baumbach sent this beautiful shot of a dragonfly, adding, “The numbers are incredible this year.’’ Jim Phillips, veteran fisheries biologist for Forest Preserves of Cook County and a great chronicler of dragonflies and damselflies, said it is a blue dasher, “one of our more common dragonflies.’’ He agreed it is a wonderful shot, one of the best for WOTW.

Send WOTW nominations on Facebook (Dale Bowman), Twitter (@BowmanOutside) or by email (straycasts@sbcglobal.net).

WILD TIMES

HUNTER SAFETY

Sept. 26-27: Palatine, palatineparks.org #403560

Oct. 4: Kenilworth, dnrsafety@gmail..com

ILLINOIS PERMITS/SEASONS

Monday: Deadline, upland game permit program . . . Deadline, first lottery, public duck and goose hunting area permits

Tuesday: Dove and early Canada goose hunting opens . . . Deadline, resident either-sex archery deer permit applications

Saturday: Teal, rail (Sora and Virginia only) and common snipe seasons open

DALE’S MAILBAG

T: “Lots of limits [of yellow perch] on east jetty, today.’’ North Side fishermen, Carl Vizzone, on Wednesday

A: The mysteries of perch on Lake Michigan taunt us.

BIG NUMBER

42: Percent of increase in in South Dakota’s statewide pheasants-per-mile index compared to 2014.

LAST WORD

“Mushrooms of all colors are starting to pop up in the woods. Wild rice is beginning to ripen. Plumes of Indian grass stand tall, surrounded by a sea of gold from sunflowers, yellow coneflowers, and compass and cup plants. Tinges of color are starting to show up on a few of trees in the north along with staghorn sumac showing early fall red colors and bracken ferns and spreading dog bane are starting to turn.’’

Wisconsin DNR Outdoor Report, on Thursday