A Year of Iowa Nature: Discovering Where We Live

December

December 126 BADGER ST Many of you have likely never seen a badger. While they are relatively common in the farmlands and grasslands of the Great Plains, they do not go about their business in a manner that makes them particularly conspicuous . They are active primarily at night and otherwise spend most of the daylight hours underground. We often hear of them as being fierce, but I know of no instance where one has attacked a person. Their first reaction at being encountered is to try to scare off the intruder. If that fails, they will either disappear underground or simply run off as fast as possible. Watch roadsides and if you are lucky you may just see a badger emerging from its underground burrow. As with most wildlife observations, patience and persistence have their rewards. 128 AMERICAN SYCAMORES ST Old American sycamores are majestic trees in winter when the colors of the trunk and branches decorate the landscape.The white upper bark appears as a smooth tight skin mottled with brown and black splotches. They grow best on bottomlands in deep rich soils where their feet are wet. On floodplains old trees can be massive, more than a hundred feet in height with a diameter at the base of nearly fifteen feet. The spreading branches make the sycamore a wonderful yard tree; however, one must be prepared to deal with their huge maple-like leaves each autumn. 130 TRUMPETER SWANS ST Trumpeter swans are our largest waterfowl with a wingspan of more than six feet and a weight of up to twenty-eight pounds. These birds are a wildlife management success story: a rough count in the mid-1930s was under 100 birds, while the nationwide number today is near 40,000. To see trumpeter swans in flight, on the ice, or in a snow-covered field is always a special experience. 132 BLACK-CAPPED CHICKADEE ST Black-capped chickadees belong to the family Paridae, along with the tufted titmouse. We know them as minute in size and quick as a wink. The most amazing aspect of this bird is its range, which extends over much of North America well up into Alaska. Given its size, it is a miracle that it can survive winter in the frozen north.Try holding sunflower seeds,and some of these birds will feed from your hand. ...