By Steve Weisman

As we hit Labor Day Weekend, I almost get beside myself with excitement and anticipation. Here I am 74 years old, and I still have those same feelings I’ve had since I was a kid. I wonder if that is why at times my wife says to me, “Steve, quit acting like a kid!” Well, darn it, I still consider myself one-LOL!

Seriously, this is a wonderful time of the year. Even though we get some hot days, you can sense it in the air…mornings are cooler, and the sun sets earlier and earlier. Yes, fall is in the air!

For an angler and hunter, what more could you ask for? I mean we have dove and early teal season already underway, and the squirrel and cottontail rabbit season just started last Saturday.

Plus, the DNR’s upland roadside survey results are out, and things look mighty good. That’s a topic we will tackle soon. We’ll look at numbers, trends and locations in detail.

The cooler mornings and nights will help the fish put on that fall feedbag. From walleyes, to northern pike/muskies, largemouth and smallmouth bass, panfish and catfish, the time will soon come for some of the best fishing opportunities of the year.

The farmer’s markets will soon be in full swing with the late summer’s bountiful harvest. The trees will begin turning, and the crops will begin to show signs of an eventual harvest.

What a great time to enjoy outdoor activities. We’ve already talked fishing and hunting, but there are so many others: kayaking, swimming, biking, hiking, jogging, golfing, tennis…you name it.

There’s also a couple that my wife and I both enjoy doing. The first is watching the explosion of colors in our flower garden. Each plant seems to outcompete the other for the most vibrant of colors.

We both enjoy the sights and sounds of our backyard wildlife. With a nice slough behind us, we get the influx of marsh birds and waterfowl. Ducks and Canada geese are the most prevalent, and boy do the Canadas make a lot of noise. Lots of times the geese will come in at dusk or later, and what a ruckus they make! Even in the middle of the night, something will get them going!

Every day in the late afternoon from 4-6, the mallards will come rolling in. It’s so cool to see them come from on high, set their wings and circle on down to the slough.

Of course, all summer we have had our resident herons that stand in the shallows looking a tasty morsel. They seem to be silhouettes as they stand patiently in the shallows. Finally, a pair of trumpeter swans that drop in at least once a week.

Of course, at night the bull frogs seem to always be making their chirping and raspy sounds. Definitely loud at 10 at night!

Watching those songbirds

Saved this one for last. My wife and I have enjoyed feeding songbirds and watching their antics for the past 30 years. Each place we have lived over those years was surrounded by lots of trees, many of them oak and maple trees. When we moved a year ago in June, we actually traded a wooded lot for an open lot with the slough about 75 yards to our back.

My wife was extremely concerned about being able to attract songbirds. We knew that it certainly wouldn’t be the same, but I was confident with some planning we would be able to attract birds. Our lot is not nearly as big, so at the edge of our south flower garden, we placed a thistle feeder in which we put finch food. This has to be filled weekly with the goldfinches, house finches, chickadees and a nuthatch every once in a while.

We also put out an oriole feeder, and although we didn’t get a lot of them, several came to the grape jelly. We have a bird bath near the ground that we fill several times during the week and also a taller bubbly fountain. They both attract lots of songbirds (and, yes sparrows) for a drink and a quick bath.

Finally, we enjoy the craziness of the hummingbird migration that begins in August. We had one once in a while during May through July, and that frustrated my wife as she kept putting out fresh sugar water in her feeders but saw very few.

Then came August and from now until the end of September, the migration will be on. In the early morning, my wife will have her coffee out on the patio, and they flit in and out. First one will hover and drink some nectar, and then another will show up and fight for a spot. At times, they will come down to my wife’s eye level and hover a foot or so from her face. Then, bang and they’re off.

As they head south, they will end up in Texas along the Gulf of Mexico and then many will continue on and overwinter in southern Mexico or Central America.

Yes, this is a wonderful time of the year to enjoy the outdoors in the Iowa Great Lakes.

(photo by Darial Weisman) A pair of trumpeter swans rest in the author’s backyard slough.

(photo by Darial Weisman) This hummer enjoys an early morning “nectar” breakfast.