Hummingbird, warmouth, breeding ducks: Notes on Chicago outdoors

Notes from around Chicago outdoors.

FIELD NOTES

WILD OF THE WEEK

Jim McGowan of Alsip came through with another fine hummingbird photos before they will “be starting to migrate back down South soon.’’

Wild of the Week, the celebration of wild scenes around Chicago outdoors, runs Sundays on the outdoors page as warranted.

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

WILD TIMES

HUNTER SAFETY

Aug. 20-21: Kankakee, (815) 935-8438

Sept. 8 and 10: Newark, (815) 210-4995

Sept. 10-11: Hoffman Estates, Diane.schneider@cabelas.com . . . Momence, (815) 388-3853 . . . Kankakee, (815) 935-2700

Sept. 17-18: Peotone, (708) 258-3343 . . . Joliet (815) 727-4811

DUCKS UNLIMITED

Thursday: Downtown Chicago Fundraiser, University Club of Chicago. Click here for info or contact Steve Wierema, (312) 994-8435; Robert Wierema, (630) 729-4566; Jeff Jalon, (773) 398-5181

Saturday: Super Quick 66 Gun Bash, Chicagoland Speedway, Joliet, click here for info and details

NATIONAL WILD TURKEY FEDERATION

Friday: Fox Valley Flydowns Banquet, D’Andrea Banquet Facility, Crystal Lake. Contact Thomas Carrick, (815) 322-2185 or t6bnorth@gmail.com

ILLINOIS PERMITS/SEASONS

Friday: Final day, third lottery for firearm and muzzleloader deer permits, click here

Through Aug. 31: Applications may be made online for the free upland Gram permit program, click here

DALE’S MAILBAG

Q: A friend of Ryan Whitacre’s has been catching what he thought might be a hybrid, perhaps of warmouth and green sunfish, at Turtlehead Lake.

A: Forest Preserves of Cook County fisheries biologist Jim Phillips emailed, “The fish in the photo is not a hybrid but is a warmouth. Warmouth are members of the sunfish family are are found in many of our lakes. They are great little fighters are fun to catch, especially for the younger fishermen like the young man in the photo.”

BIG NUMBER

82: Public television stations nationwide that will air “Shifting Sands: On the Path to Sustainability,’’ about the Indiana Dunes region, which began airing on Sunday, August 14

LAST WORD

“In light of the dry conditions that were observed across much of the northern breeding grounds during the survey period, it is reassuring to see that the breeding population counts were little changed from last year.’’

Scott Yaich, Ducks Unlimited’s chief scientist, on the 48.4 million breeding ducks in 2016 Trends in Duck Breeding Populations