Discovering the world around me.
In the 1850s, a massive campaign to recruit settlers to the prairies was underway. Land speculators bought up land to resell at a profit. Soldiers from the Mexican-American war were granted land warrants for 160 acres of land, which many sold for cash. Thousands of farmers and their families from Pennsylvania, Ohio and other eastern […]
Continue reading Settlement Part 3: Jesse Plows the Prairie
All winter, northern cardinals (Cardinalis cardinalis) have been brightening the landscape with their red plumage and their upward-rising whit-whit-whit calls followed by that descending pfew, Pfew call. Three or four pairs of them have been frequenting the bird feeder, lording it over the finches and chickadees. On this cold March morning, one is sitting on […]
Continue reading Solo Duet: Northern Cardinal
In today’s world, every piece of land is owned by somebody. In order to draw the lines and make the plat maps that define the land, a framework has to be in place so that the land can be described precisely and mapped accurately. In the Midwest, where the land is generally rolling prairie laced […]
Continue reading Settlement Part 2: Townships and Land Purchases
One day last March, when the weather teased us with a note of spring, we took advantage of the day to sit out on the screened in porch. It was a sunny day, with a promise of warmer days to come. In the corner were 15 or 20 reddish-brown insects with yellow rings around their […]
Continue reading Finding the Balance: Northern Paper Wasps
Although the United States had purchased the Louisiana Territory from France in 1803, Iowa was still considered Indian Territory. Land-hungry settlers moved inexorably across the woodlands of Ohio and Indiana into the Illinois prairies up to the Mississippi River. The river was a hard boundary, remaining in the nominal possession of the Sauk and Fox […]
Continue reading Settlement Part 1: Land Rush
“There’s a dead skunk in the middle of the road, stinkin’ to high heaven.” Isn’t that a song from the 70s? This real-life skunk was probably out hunting last night, crossing the road looking for supper, when it was hit by a car. It will be surrounded by that unmistakable skunk perfume for days. It […]
Continue reading American Sable, Anyone?: Striped Skunk
The Meskwaki and Sauk people were driven from their ancestral home in northeastern Canada, through Massachusetts, to the Great Lakes, and eventually into Iowa by 1735. Until 1803, Iowa remained part of the territory claimed first by the French (1699-1762), then the Spanish (1762-1800), and then again, the French (1800-1803). In spite of what the […]
Continue reading Meskwaki Part 3: Removal and Return
Spring must be coming. The Canada geese are on the move. We’re out for the morning walk. Dave is distracted. He stands riveted—big floppy lab ears cocked, nose pointing to the south—he hears the season’s first gaggle of Canada geese (Branta canadensis) flying overhead. They may have been wintering south of here, and if so, […]
Continue reading On the Move: Canada Geese
The Meskwaki and Sauk tribes lived in Iowa during a period from about 1735 to 1845. They established villages on the Iowa and Des Moines rivers and hunted across Iowa. The eight acres that comprise Owl Acres today would have been a tiny part of the millions of acres they claimed as their hunting grounds […]
Continue reading Meskwaki Part 2: Woodland Culture
We put up a bird feeder station this year, and the Eastern Goldfinches (Spinus tristis) have decided it’s an easier way to get that 100% of their body weight serving of seeds than foraging for them in the fence rows and woods. A mixed flock of a couple dozen birds flits about, snacking, perching, fluttering […]
Continue reading Iowa State Bird: Eastern Goldfinch