Flight of the Monarchs

The Monarch butterfly, a member of the Endangered Species List, has once again begun its semi-annual migration. My first sighting of the orange and black beauties this May 9th, but their northern trek started from central Mexico the second week of March. It seems that the longer day light hours in the spring trigger the butterfly to get the yearly cycle going. In turn the same goes in the Fall when the daylight hours get shorter - means it's time to head south for warmer climates from the border of Canada. There seems to be three separate populations of Monarchs. One that lives on the west side of the Rockies and winters in California, then those on the east side of the Rockies that migrate to central Mexico ,with the third group along the eastern seaboard finding winter quarters in Florida. One of the reasons our decision to buy our timber property was the time of year we first started looking at it. The Monarchs were hanging in bunches on the tips of the oak tree branches, we discovered that it is one of the favorite perches for resting butterflies. September 8 - 20th is the time Iowa usually sees winged wonders pass through. However, as we sat down to enjoy a community picnic on Labor Day several miles to the west the Sycamore tree tips were alive with movement. Monarchs jockeying for their own space to rest before they embarked on their next leg of the journey...

"Brothers of the Rack"

The rush of having sited some good looking White-tail bucks in the yard brings on the desire to once again try my hand at getting to the outback come December 1st-5th (first) or December 8th-16th (second) shotgun seasons here in Iowa. Bow seasons are from Ocotber 1st-November 30th and then again December 17th,2007 - January 10th,2008 Yes, there are some antlerless hunts later but you have to get in early since the license availabilty is determined by county --whatever the IDNR decides is a target number. First special anterless season falls from November 23rd - 25th and the second comes after the new year January 11th - 27th,2008, both being Iowa residents only. As you can see the season change is starting to become evident in the color change of the deer hair. Here at this link you will find some great information about the specifics that come as apart of getting to know them better. The why it is the way it is - http://www.enature.com/fieldguides/detail.asp?recnum=MA0046 Hope to see you around later. Have a great day!