Roadside idiocy, red-wing on red-tail, skamania joy, Chicago waterway fish: Notes around Chicago outdoors

The latest news and notes from around the Chicago outdoors.

SHARE Roadside idiocy, red-wing on red-tail, skamania joy, Chicago waterway fish: Notes around Chicago outdoors
Reized/Sun-Times

Richard Anzalone photographed a red-winged blackbird harassing a red-tailed hawk near Lemont.

Provided by Richard Anzalone

Notes from all around Chicago outdoors.

FIELD NOTES

WILD OF THE WEEK

Rich Anzalone photographed a red-tailed hawk being harassed by a red-winged blackbird in Lemont. (Who do you root for in that?)

WOTW, the celebration of wild stories and photos around Chicago outdoors, runs most weeks in the special two-page outdoors section in the Sun-Times Sports Saturday. Send nominations to @BowmanOutside on Twitter or Instagram, to Dale Bowman on Facebook or email BowmanOutside@gmail.com.

WILD TIMES

HUNTER SAFETY

Thursday and Saturday, July 11 and 13: Hebron, Mchenryilhs@gmail.com

SHOWTIME

Saturday-next Sunday, July 13-14: Outside Experience, presented by Go RVing, McCormick Place Lakeside, OutsideExperienceShow.com

SPEAKER

Monday, July 8: Chicago Park District’s Lauren Umek, who will speak on removal of North Branch dam at River Park, opens the McCormick Bridgehouse & Chicago River Museum Lunch and Learn speaker series, 12:15-12:45 p.m., museum plaza on Chicago Riverwalk

FISH GATHERINGS

Tuesday, July 9: Gregory Alan Hitzroth from Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant, Salmon Unlimited, Elk Grove Village VFW,, 7 p.m., salmonunlimitedinc.com

Wednesday, July 10: Capt. Steve Everetts, ``Delavan Lake--Multi-species Techniques,’’ Lake Geneva Fishing Club, Poplar Creek Bowl, Hoffman Estates, 6 p.m., lakegenevafishingclub.com

Thursday, July 11: Rob Wendel, ``Kayak & Small Boats Fishing,’’ Riverside Fishing Club, LaGrange American Legion, 6:30 p.m., RiversideFishingClub.com

ILLINOIS PERMITS

Today, July 7: Online applications begin, second lottery, free dove hunting permits, dnr.illinois.gov/hunting/dove/Pages/OnlinePermitApplication.aspx

U.S. COAST GUARD AUXILIARY

Saturday, July 13: Suddenly in Command, Villa Park, Glenn Nystrom, gnystrom33@gmail.com

FISHING DERBY

Through today, July 7: Kankakee River Fishing Derby, kankakeefishingderby.com/

DALE’S MAILBAG

“I know it’s an unscientific observation . . . but I’ve noticed more quail, killdeer and other roadside wildlife this year since the ditches have been too wet to mow. Sure wish they could be convinced to hold off on mowing till after August 1st like the DNR always recommends.’’ Ed Safiran

A: It’s one of things that most irritates me as a conservationist. Plus, not mowing until August could be the easiest cost-savings for every level of government from township to county to state.

BIG NUMBER

Resized/Sun-Times

Confluence of the Cal-Sag and the Sanitary Ship Canal.

Dale Bowman

49: Species of fish collected during the Seasonal Intensive Monitoring survey on Chicago-area waterways (done to look for Asian). But no bighead or silver carp were found this year.

LAST WORD

“The beauty of Skamania fishing is that you can do it in shorts and a T-shirt, catching a tan along with your steelhead. It’s a great way to introduce people to steelhead fishing, especially kids. Pier fishing in particular is family friendly, since it only requires a medium action rod, a bobber, and widely available bait like night crawlers or cooked, peeled shrimp.’’

Ben Dickinson, Indiana DNR Lake Michigan biologist

The Latest
Despite getting into foul trouble, which limited him to just six minutes in the second half, Shannon finished with 29 points, five rebounds and two assists.
Cowboy hats, bell-bottoms and boots were on full display Thursday night as fans lined up for the first of his three sold-out shows.
The incident occurred about 3:40 p.m. near Minooka. The horse was successfully placed back into the trailer, and the highway reopened about 40 minutes later. No injuries were reported.
The Hawks conceded the game’s only two goals within the first seven minutes and were shut out for the 12th time this season in a 2-0 defeat Thursday.