Notes come from around Chicago outdoors and beyond.
WILD OF THE WEEK
Two views of scarlet tanagers came in recent weeks. Paul Vriend emailed, “The vivid red and the jet-black colors of this scarlet tanager make for a fun day of photography. I favor an over the shoulder pose to showcase this male’s beautiful features. I think this pose highlights the tension and possibilities for flight and also provides an insight into the emotional state of the bird. Is it ready to fly, does it appear nervous, is it look for prey, what is it going to do?”
In Lemont, Dan Kaufman opted for patiently waiting for a scarlet tanager in flight at a feeder from an upstairs bathroom window. Question they had was whether the tanager would stick around or was just passing through.
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).
FISH OF THE WEEK
We’ll try to do FOTW regularly now on Sundays. Cory Parish starts it with a 45-pound flathead catfish scaught around 1:30 a.m. just before rain started in late May from a boat on the Kankakee River near Aroma Park. “He ran straight upstream and went under the boat and wrapped himself one time around my anchor rope, but I was able to slide the rod under the rope and get him boat side,” he emailed. “He came up next to the boat and I was able to grab him by the mouth and haul him in. Now I am on the hunt for that 50-pound river monster.”
FOTW, the celebration of wild stories and photos around Chicago outdoors, now runs most weeks in the 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).
WILD TIMES
YOUTH FIShING
Next Sunday, June 8: Forest Preserve District of DuPage County’s “Just for Kids Fishing Derby,” free, 15 and younger, 8-11 a.m., Silver Lake, Blackwell Forest Preserve, dupageforest.org or (630) 933-7248.
ILLINOIS PERMITS/SEASONS
Sunday, June 1: Groundhog season opens
Sunday June 1: First lottery, site-specific dove sites, opens
Sunday, June 1: First lottery, site-specific, youth dove hunting, opens
Next Saturday, June 7: Final day, first lottery, fall shotgun turkey permits
HUNTER SAFETY
Next Weekend, June 7-8: Wilmington, https://islandparkdistrict.activityreg.com
The full state listing is at dnr2.illinois.gov/SafetyEd/SafetyEdClassByCounty
