Notes come from all around Chicago outdoors and beyond.
WILD OF THE WEEK
Dr. Elizabeth Pector found this hummingbird clearwing moth (hemaris thysbe) in a bergamot/bee balm patch next to a Walmart parking lot, near Springbrook Prairie. ”I’m not sure that hummingbird mothing is a thing, but we could classify it with the other lovely insects we run across in mid to late summer,” she emailed.
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. To make submissions, email BowmanOutside@gmail.com or contact me on Facebook (Dale Bowman), Twitter (@BowmanOutside) or Instagram (@BowmanOutside).
WILD TIMES
HUNTER SAFETY
Aug. 18-19: Kankakee, (815) 935-2700
Aug. 19 and 21: Mundelein, (847) 918-6145
Aug. 20-21: Ingleside, shawnfrey33@gmail.com
Aug. 28-29: Palatine, palatineparks.org
FISH GATHERING
Thursday, Aug. 12: Guide Phil Piscitello leads return of in-person Riverside Fishing Club, LaGrange American Legion, 6:30 p.m., $7 for non-members, RiversideFishingClub.com
LUNCHTIME LECTURES
Monday, Aug. 9: Joshi Radin on nature, cosmology and expanded landscape, Bridgehouse Museum on Chicago Riverwalk, free, noon-12:45 p.m., bridgehousemuseum.org/events
CONSERVATION WORLD
Friday, Aug. 13, to Aug. 22: Illinois State Fairgrounds, Springfield, 10 a.m.-7 p.m., www2.illinois.gov/dnr/ConservationWorld/
U.S. COAST GUARD AUXILIARY
Tuesday, Aug. 10: Suddenly in Command, Villa Park, Glenn Nystrom, gnystrom33@gmail.com
SHOWTIME
Saturday, Aug. 14: TEACH Outdoors Craft Fair and Swap Meet Fundraiser, free, 1539 W Route 6, Morris, 10 a.m.-4 p.m., BrittneyErickson@TeachOutdoors.org
WINGSHOOTING CLINICS
Saturday-Sunday, Aug. 14-15: Shabbona, rakcarlson@comcast.net, (815)757-2949
Aug. 21-22: Waterman, hunterwsclinic@gmail.com
DALE’S MAILBAG
“Are there really catfish in Lake Michigan?” Newgen Hill
A: “Yes. The biggest channel catfish I ever caught was on Lake Michigan while bass fishing a discharge in Indiana.
BIG NUMBER
2nd: Ranking of the United States, behind only France, in the world’s best countries for skinny dipping; the U.S. ranked tops in nudist campsites, according to Outforia.
LAST WORD
“There really is no correct way to hike the [Appalachian Trail], and anyone who insists that there is ought not to worry so much about other people’s experiences. Hikers need to hike the trail that’s right for them...”
Adrienne Hall, in her “A Journey North: One Woman’s Story of Hiking the Appalachian Trail,” via goodreads.com
