Notes come from around Chicago outdoors and beyond.
WILD OF THE WEEK
Paul Vriend photographed this fawn in flight, or as he put, “This fawn in Rosehill Cemetery has the zoomies.”
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 Sunday. To make submissions, email BowmanOutside@gmail.com or contact me on Facebook (Dale Bowman), Twitter (@BowmanOutside), Instagram (@BowmanOutside). or Bluesky (@Bowmanoutside).
DALE’S MAILBAG
“A friend of mine, Javier Ramirez, took the attached photo of a ruby-throated hummingbird perched on a neighbor’s dead cottonwood that hangs over his yard in Frankfort. He and his wife have the most beautiful yard — front is savanna with native plants and a grass path, back is mostly gorgeous vegetable garden but some prairie and a tiny pond that gets rainwater from their roof. Hummingbird has been there for years; she finds plenty of nectar and small insects to feed her young because Kim uses no insecticides on her veggies.” Marianne Hahn
A: I love Ramirez’s photo, but I also love the conservation ethic they have. There are multiple interconnections in the nature world.
LAST WORD
“Dude Wipes Goes Incognito: New Camouflage Pack for Hunters Who Give a Crap”
Best headlined outdoors pitch I’ve seen, which came for Dude Wipes latest, designed by Realtree Advantage, via PR Newswire
WILD TIMES
ILLINOIS PERMITS/SEASONS
Next Saturday, Aug. 31: Final day to apply, free upland game permits
Next Saturday, Aug. 31: Final Day, first lottery, public duck/goose hunting areas
Sept. 1: Dove season opens
Sept. 1-15: Early Canada goose season
ALDO LEOPOLD
Monday, Aug. 26:Aldo Leopold Foundation director Buddy Huffaker, Aldo Leopold’s impact on the conservation movement, Indiana Dunes Visitor Center, Indiana Dunes National Park, (219) 395-1882, www.nps.gov/indu
MUSHROOM SHOW
Sept. 1: Illinois Mycological Association’s annual show, Chicago Botanic Garden, Glencoe, 10 a.m.-4:30, illinoismyco.org/about-us/annual-show/
HUNTER SAFETY
Sept. 12 & 14:Bonfield, (815) 635-3198
Sept. 14-15:Kankakee, Leroy, (815) 935-2700
Sept. 21-22:Diamond, (815) 907-7345, diamondtrap@indoor-range.net
Sept. 26 & 28: Newark, davidpaulinski@gmail.com
Full state listing is at dnr2.illinois.gov/SafetyEd/SafetyEdClassByCounty
WINGSHOOTING
Sept. 21 or 22: Hunter clinics, Des Plaines SFWA, Wilmington, (815)423-5326
Nov. 9:Youth clinic & youth pheasant hunt, Iroquois SWA, Beaverville, (815) 933-1383
BIRDING FESTIVAL
Sept. 13-15: First citywide festival, guided trips, registration opened Saturday, https://www.theurbanbirdingfestival.org/
BEER IN THE WOODS
Sept. 21: LaBagh Woods, 1-5 p.m., fotfp.org/event-item/8th-annual-beer-in-the-woods/