Kip’s Comments 7-8-20
There is Hope Some days are great, some days are challenging. But, there is always hope. Maybe tomorrow will be different.
Kip’s Comments 7-7-20
Following Up on a Morning Sighting Very early this morning Kristy and I rode our bikes on the Sweet Water Trail from Tripoli to the Wapsipinicon River and back. Since we both had to go to work, we did not stop for photos. In fact, for the first time in ages I did not …
Kip’s Comments 7-6-20
Noodling Kip Style In some parts of the country brave (or crazy) folks go noodling for catfish. To “noodle” you probe underwater holes in river banks to find big catfish. If you find a catfish, you try to wiggle your fingers/hands into the mouth far enough to reach the gills and hope the fish …
Kip’s Comments 7-5-20
Wetland Wonders Over the past few days of this holiday weekend I have spent my mornings at a local wetland. While no large species were observed or photographed, plenty of smaller species provided ample photography opportunities. Recent posts have featured primarily dragonflies. Today I saw dragonflies, damselflies, and some aquatic plants. Rather …
Kip’s Comments 7-4-20
Dragonfly Hunt Depending on who you talk to, Sweet Marsh (Marten’s Lake) may or may not be the best place for fishing right now. Aquatic vegetation seems to be overtaking the water making power boating challenging at best. For paddlers, the stringy, green muck makes every paddle stroke difficult unless you stay only in …
Kip’s Comments 7-3-20
ID Challenge Of all of the wildlife that I try to identify, dragonflies and damselflies might present the greatest challenge. If all that I saw and photographed were adult males, especially dragonflies, then the process would be easy. When the pictures or observations include females or juveniles, the process becomes very challenging. I frequently …
Kip’s Comments 7-2-20
Sweet Revenge During a very early morning outing, when the mosquitoes were feeding furiously after a night without human blood, I found a small area where dragonflies and damselflies were feeding voraciously on the mosquitoes. All I had to do was sit in place, swat at bugs, and watch the reverse bloodshed. Dragonflies and …
Kip’s Comments 7-1-20
Very Heavy Stuff Today’s post includes a photo of a very heavy product created by humans. Apparently this stuff is so heavy that it must be left (improperly discarded) where it is removed from fishing reels. It is too heavy to carry out to be properly disposed of. As a result, wildlife life becomes …
Kip’s Comments 6-30-20
Almost the Last Eight Miles A day or two ago I shared how some of our nesting brown thrashers had left their nest and were out in the yard. The parent birds were having a fit when I moved around…not even close to their brood. As a result, I have steered clear of that …
Kip’s Comments 6-29-20
Aggressive Parenting Since the latter part of last week much has happened at the avian nurseries here in our yard. The noisy house wrens fledged and all is quiet again near the feeders. Unfortunately we missed seeing the little ones leave their nest box. In another part of the yard our brown thrashers …