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
