Turkeys in Chicago, bucks in snow, bluegill in winter: Notes, Chicago outdoors

Notes from around Chicago outdoors.

FIELD NOTES

WILD OF THE WEEK

Christian Howe emailed: ‘‘This is the best picture I could score, but here is one of turkeys that have made Beverly home.’’ Yes, wild turkeys are living within the city limits.

Wild of the Week, the celebration of stories and photos around Chicago outdoors, run when warranted on Sundays on the Sun-Times outdoors page. Send nominations by Facebook (Dale Bowman), Twitter (@BowmanOutside) or email

DALE’S MAILBAG

Message: ‘‘Panfish on the bamboo fly at Busse Woods WWD.’’ — Bob France

A:Wednesday was a beautiful winter break, but I didn’t understand where he found open water until France said ‘‘WWD’’ stood for warm-water discharge.

BIG NUMBER

115

Pounds of a black carp, thought to be the biggest specimen of the invasive fish brought in for analysis at Southern Illinois, according to Tim Crosby’s report at news.siu.edu. (Click here for the story.) The female was caught by commercial fishers on the Mississippi River near Cape Girardeau, Mo.

LAST WORD

‘‘Getting ready for the shed [antlers], but found a few bucks holding on to their racks.’’

—Bill Peak, on starting to look for shed antlers last week. Whitetail deer bucks shed antlers annually, generally over several months, with the peak in February.

WILD TIMES

FISH GATHERING

Tuesday: Dave McCoy, ‘‘Jigging Up Walleyes,’’ 6 p.m., Arlington Anglers, Cabela’s, Hoffman Estates, arlingtonanglers.com.

SHOWTIME

(Click here for the complete list of shows)

Saturday: Salmon Unlimited Swap Meet, 7 a.m.-noon, River Park Moose Lodge, River Grove. Click here for detail.

Saturday-Sunday: Fish-On, Portage (Ind.) High School. Click here for details.

U.S. COAST GUARD AUXILLIARY

(Click here for ful package of classes in the area)

Saturday: Boating safety, Oak Park. Contact Ron Dziagwa at ltc_swimpilot@hotmail.com.

Saturday: Boating safety, Hammond, Indiana. Contact Dick Chappelle at rkac16149@msn.com.

HUNTER SAFETY

(Click here for full package of northeast Illinois hunter safety classes)

Feb. 27-28: Chicago, carryinillinois.com/hunter-safety-course.html.

March 3-4: Palatine, palatineparks.org, Class No. 203560.

March 10-11: Bridgeview, (708) 594-1818. . . . Dyer, Indiana, booking@firstshotdyer.com.

March 16-17: Morris, philliparnold3@gmail.com or (815) 343-7330.

March 17-18: New Lenox, huntedbob@aol.com.

DUCKS UNLIMITED

(Click here for the general list of Illinois DU events)

Friday: Chain O’Lakes dinner, Maravela’s, Fox Lake. Click here for details. Contact Jen Tobias at (262) 716-9113.

GREAT BACKYARD BIRD COUNT

Today: Final day, click here for details.

TREE COURSE

April 7: Deadline for registering for Openlands TreeKeeper certification course, at Washington Park fieldhouse on Thursdays and Sundays from April 8-May 3. Cost is $128. Enroll at www.openlands.org/treekeepers

NATIONAL WILD TURKEY FEDERATION

(Click here for general list of banquets and events)

PHEASANTS FOREVER

(Click here for general list of Illinois PF events)