Conservation

I am betting that most of you who have been in the Nebraska outdoors this summer have seen at least one dragonfly.  Usually they are found near water, but not necessarily so, sometimes adult dragonflies can venture a long way from water.  However, dragonflies are definitely aquatic insects.  In fact dragonflies spend most of their lives in the water!  Adult dragonflies mate and then the females deposits eggs on the surface of the water.  Those eggs hatch into larval dragonflies …

Who doesn’t enjoy seeing native wildflowers in good habitat on a farm, huh? I know I do! I am so wild about wildflowers (forbs) that I have planted a number of applicable varieties on our 148 year-old southeastern Nebraska farm in our Conservation Reserve Program acres. I am proud of the pollinator habitat we have established. Here it is at work! According to the USDA’s Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS), pollinators play a crucial role in the reproduction of many plants, including many of …

I am going to share a photo of a big fish that was caught in Nebraska recently.  Yes, I realize that some of my blog readers will know all about this catch already, it has been making the rounds on the internet and that is where I got the photos and information.  But,  I want to blog about it because there are a lots of other folks who have not heard about it.  If there is one thing I have …

If you have been reading my blog for anytime, you know I am a huge fan of catch & release.  In fact there are those who have accused me of being a catch & release fascist. I do not care.  Catch & release is an established part of sport fishing today, and an important part of fisheries management.  Simply put, if you fish today you will be releasing at least some of the fish you catch if not voluntarily, by …

The July 2014 issue of NEBRASKAland magazine is available on-line right now. It is way too early in the summer to find any of the gayfeather that is pictured on the cover, but inside you will find a variety of great stories, as usual. Of course I am going to point out a fish story on pages 42-45, “Shocking Flatheads”.  In that, NEBRASKAland editor Jeff Kurrus interviews Jordan Katt, the fisheries biologist in charge of the flathead catfish research that has …

Let me give an update on some of my latest fishing in our great state.  On Father’s Day my kids and I were invited by a buddy to fish on a private pit.  That sounded like a really good idea and we jumped at the opportunity. As soon as we got there and tackled up, we spotted a bunch of bluegills and small largemouth bass cruising the shorelines.  That is a very common sight on Nebraska pits and ponds this …

I got a phone call a couple of weeks ago, a request.  It was one of the folks from Nebraska public TV’s Backyard Farmer.  Somehow they had my name and wanted to know if I would film a segment on native fish people could put in their backyard ponds.  I told them I was in no way an expert on backyard ponds, but I was honored they asked, and  if they wanted to talk about some Nebraska fish in those ponds …

A one-day workshop at the Wildcat Hills Nature Center south of Gering this month will explore the importance of pollinating insects to the world’s food supply and ecosystems. The Panhandle Pollinators Workshop will be Thursday, June 19, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. and is free to the first 25 registrants. A lunch will be provided. The deadline to register is Friday, June 13. While many know of bees as obvious pollinators, the workshop will discuss a variety of other …

A series of nature programs continues this week at the two state parks in the northern Panhandle. Park naturalist Jami Campbell will lead eight family-friendly programs at Chadron State Park and Fort Robinson State Park on Thursday, June 5, through Saturday, June 7. The action will start at Chadron State Park’s Trading Post on Thursday at 3:30 p.m. with a program about snakes. At 5:30 p.m. she will tell about the tiniest creatures in the prairies and forests. The programming …

I hate “litter bugs”.  If I see another styrofoam worm container on the shoreline of one of my fishing spots, I am going to scream!  I have used the word “pig” before to describe folks who discard all manner of trash in our environment and especially around our public fishing areas.  I probably should not call ’em “pigs” because that is offensive to real pigs.  If I had my way, discarding trash of any kind on our public hunting and …