Frost on the rail, frost on the bridge boards, a splash from a diving muskrat, and Lady's ears perked with anticipation for something to lunge toward.

The lone wild excitement on this morning's ramble with Lady, our family's mutt, came as we approached the bridge over...

Signs come of the influx of mallards into Illinois, at least along the Mississippi River. That is right on schedule for the week before Thanksgiving.

Aaron Yetter writes about what he saw in his aerial surveys in his latest blog.

He does the aerial surveys f...

Quick, how many geese would you guess in the photo?

Over the years, I think that I have become fairly good at estimating bird or animal numbers. Every once in a while I get a reality check.

As Lady and I came up on the south old clay pit this morning, Canada geese wadd...

Apparently the criminal outdoors element in Indiana seeps into Illinois.

This deer-poaching case in southern Cook County has some Indian twists to the story.

Here is the latest word on the story from the Illinois Department of Natural Resources:

Indiana Man Charg...

Lady draws inspiration from the snow. When I took her out the first time on Saturday in the snow, she literally leaped around and twirled nearly a 360 in the air.

It has continued. Here even a couple days later, she is still franatically rooting in the snow, pawing it...

Mallards, the most popular duck for Illinois waterfowlers, is the topic of Aaron Yetter's latest blog entry from his aerial surveys. Or in this case, non-flight day.

He does the aerial surveys for the Illinois Natural History Survey along the Illinois and Mississippi...

For Illinois waterfowlers who hunt the area near the north-central zone line in the northeast here is a heads up.

The Natural Resources Advisory Board last month recommended two changes to the recommendations that professional staff from the Illinois Department of Natu...

There's a reason I prefer walking the dawn.

This morning splashed that reason all over the sky, land and water.

Leaving on the morning ramble with Lady, our family's mutt, before dawn is my favorite way. That way the sunrise is coming about the time we cross the side...

Here is Aaron Yetter's latest blog entry from his aerial surveys. It has an interesting thought on decoy spreads, from the perspective of ducks (or someone flying an aerial survey).

He does the aerial surveys for the Illinois Natural History Survey along the Illinois an...

A crow labored into the wind.

And I mean labored. It was flying west across the north old clay pit. As Lady, our family's mutt, and I crossed the side rail separating town from the wildness of the town pond, I spotted the lone crow and figured I could have walked faste...