2025 Hindsight
Welcome to the online version of the Loess Hills Audubon Society’s 2025 Holiday celebration! Here are highlights of the year from our chapter’s photographers and videographers. Each contributor has their own section. They are arranged alphabetically by the Photographer’s last name. Please explore and enjoy!
Bill Huser
1-3, Boreal Owl, Sax Zim Bog, MN
4-5, Lesser Prairie Chicken, near Oakley, KS
6-7, Atlantic Puffins, Bar Harbor, ME
8, Pigeon Guillemot, Bar Harbor
9, Petite Manin Island, ME, rookery for many seabirds
10, Common Murre, Atlantic Puffin and Razorbill, Petite Manin Is., ME
Above images copyright 2025 by William F Huser, used with permission.
Kevin J Kerr
Above images copyright 2025 by Kevin J Kerr, used with permission
Jerry L Mennenga
Above images copyright 2025 by Jerry L Mennenga, used with permission.
Jillian Murphy
The photos are Jillian’s “bloopers from the 2025 summer field season of my research.”
1. This was my first brown thrasher nest I ever found - they are THE softest baby birds I've ever held!
2 & 3. One evening, we had flash flooding in Vermillion. The following morning, at a study site just outside of city limits, I was doing nest box checks for eggs that I was expecting to be laid any day - instead, I found deermice, house mice, and a meadow vole! They were likely refugees from floodwaters.
4. At Prairie Hills, I was walking to a box in Millie's Prairie to remove bluebird eggs for measurement. On my way, I was thrilled to have my first ever encounter with an emerging eastern grass cicada!
5. ...I was not the only one excited about cicadas. This nestling bluebird was struggling to swallow this larval cicada when we opened its nest box. I ended up tearing the larvae in half, feeding half to this chick and half to a sibling. It was hilarious, but I didn't think much of it.
6. ...Then, at the end of the season, I returned to take measurements of the nest. The young had all survived and fledged despite their parents apparently CONSISTENTLY feeding them too-big food. In my hand in this photo are the regurgitated cicadas from that brood. Not pictured were other things the babies didn't swallow: large rough-leaf dogwood seeds and several grubs that were more than an inch long.
7. This was my favorite nest of the season. It was in an old newspaper box. They stuffed so many sticks in that I couldn't fit my hand in to reach the cup at the back of the box, so...
8. ...I cut the box open with a Dremel and made a hinged door from duct tape with a paper clip latch. The cup was luxurious! It was softer than all the other wren nests. There were many feathers - even some pretty ones that looked like yellow warbler. They'd also included some garter snake sheds (still blue!) as well as cellophane, which they might mistake for snake skin or appreciate for the same draft-stopping purposes.
9. Same newspaper box nest once the babies had all hatched and grown a bit
Above images copyright 2025 by Jillian Murphy, used with permission.
Jan Null
1. The beautiful male Ring-necked Pheasants were posing for me on May 10, 2025, north of Badger Lake in a corn-field. You PROBABLY know their rooster-like crowing can be heard from up to a mile away. Did you know that they can run up to 8 to 10 miles per hour and fly as fast as 60 miles per hour when chased!
2. The Northern Flickers were busy at Owego on April 6. On walks, don’t be surprised if you scare one up from the ground. It’s not where you’d expect to find a woodpecker, but flickers eat mainly ants and beetles. When they fly, you’ll see a flash of color in the wings – yellow if you’re in the East, red if you’re in the West – and a bright white flash on the rump.
3. We heard the Eastern Towhee singing at Preparation Canyon on April 21. One of their calls is our favorite loud "Drink-your-tea" song! Did you know that female cowbirds lay eggs in towhee nests, then leave the birds to raise their cowbird young. Towhees, unlike some other birds, show no ability to recognize or remove those eggs. Female cowbirds typically take out a towhee egg when laying their own, making the swap still harder to notice.
4. We found the Pasque flowers also on April 1 at Preparation Canyon. A beautiful white flower which you can only see for a few weeks every year! They are a precious flower for many nature lovers. You can see one as a bud, one blooming, and one ready for the seeds to blow away in the wind!
5. I spotted this boldly colored Red-headed Woodpecker on May 10th north of Badger Lake very far away in the grass. After zooming in and getting 2 more shots, he took off & I was rewarded with a picture of him flying! Most Woodpeckers have some red on their head, but not as much as this one! They are found in orchards, woods, isolated groves and openings; they winter where acorns and other wild nuts are plentiful.
6. On April 24 as were at Brown’s Lake watching about 40 Cedar Waxwing just raising cane all around two bushes! Then we noticed a Merlin sitting in a tree over by the lake. Suddenly all the Waxwings vanished! Then we spotted the cause of all the excitement. This dashing, very fast, crafty Merlin was sitting at the bottom of the bushes waiting for his dinner to fly by!
7. What a treat I have for you on the next two photos. Jerry VE’s son, Todd, also a retired Naturalist & his wife Julia built a new home on their acreage near Forest City. His prairie is about ¾ of an acre; he planted his first prairie in 1994. The prairie in the picture was planted in 2022 and is a pollinator garden. He said when they first moved there it took him 4 hours to mow all the grass. Now it only takes an hour since most has been converted to prairie. Also in the picture are Todd, Julia & Jerry.
Above images copyright 2025 by Jan Null, used with permission.
Above video copyright by Jan Null 2025, used with permission.
Ed Sibley
Above images copyright 2025 by Edward Sibley, used with permission.
Jerry Von Ehwegen
WHY DO WE LOVE TO BIRD??
BECAUSE: YOU NEVER KNOW!
1.YNK When you might meet a young man who loves to bird!!
2.YNK When both young and old might work together to report birds for Iowa’s Breeding Bird Atlas. And a note of interest!! This picture is at the East end of 234th street in Plymouth County where a farmer let us bird. It is now part of the Broken Kettle Grasslands where this young man is now employed and has led LHAS outings here!!
3.YNK When you might serve on the LHAS Board and plan activities and projects of all kinds. (Including how we can help save our beautiful birds!). A recent example being making Sioux City a Bird Friendly City! NOTE! There are 3 former LHAS Presidents in this picture! Chuck-Jody-Bill Vust!
4. YNK When you might meet a couple of excellent birders who know where the birds are!
5. YNK Where an LHAS Outing will take you, like the Broken Kettle Grasslands shown here! (Lots of familiar faces here!).
6. YNK Or the Loess Hills State Forest as shown here! (More familiar faces!)
7.YNK When an unusual bird like this Sage Thrasher from the great southwest might show up on an Iowa Manure Pile in Plymouth County and sing his heart out for you!!
8. YNK When a Limpkin from Florida might show up right here in Sioux City at Bacon Creek Park and stick around for several days for all to see!!
9. YNK When after a morning of birding, you might be treated to some great food with fellow birders in a very unique setting!
10. YNK You might enjoy a lifetime of birding like this special couple who have birded over 60 years together!!!
Above images copyright 2025 by Gerald Von Ehwegen, used with permission
Randall Williams
01 January 10, 2025 Bacon Creek Golden Crowned Kinglet -- A morning winter walk around Bacon Creek and I found three kinglets foraging for food. Although not the highest quality, this remains one of the better images I've captured of such a lively bird.
02 February 15, 2025 GBBC -- This image was recorded as part of the Great Backyard Bird Count. I began the day along the Big Sioux River near Stone Park and stumbled on this River Otter. I never expected a sighting like this!
03 March 26, 2025 Adams Homestead and Nature Preserve - Great Horned Owlets – Another big surprise for me. I found these three Great Horned Owlets at Adams Homestead. I was bicycling along the Lake Loop Trail and noticed something "good-sized" fly into the trees on the east shore of Mud Lake. Then, two more "good-sized birds" flew to the same spot. They first appeared to be fighting over the same perch. When I got them focused in the binoculars I was thrilled to find these three owlets.
04 May 10, 2025 WMBD-- World Migratory Bird Day at Prairie Park with old and new friends stopping by for a look and a visit.
05 May 27, 2025 3State -- Tri-State Ornithology field group near Brown's Lake on 5/27/25.
06 August 28, 2025 Great Egret Lakeview -- One of my first bike-exploration trips around Johnston, IA on 8/28/25. I followed the NW Beaver Avenue hike-bike trail to Lakeview Recreation Area on the west shore of Saylorville Lake. There were three Great Egrets in a small backwater near the boat ramps at this site.
07 August 28, 2025 Lakeview Recreation Area – I shot this image before I captured the image of the Great Egret (above). This was captured on the same bike ride and same recreation area but from a stone picnic shelter a little above the boat ramps.
08 September 2, 2025 Beaver Crossing Johnston -- This image was captured from the Beaver Crossing hike-bike bridge over Beaver Creek, Johnston, IA. The bridge is part of the Trestle-to-Trestle trail system but may also be accessed by the Sycamore North Mountain Bike Trail (how I got there this fine morning). There were two herons, one on each side of the bridge. This one calmly continued walking downstream and away from me.
09 September 14, 2025 Shetler Recreation Area -- The Bob Shetler Recreation Area below Saylorville Dam is about 2-miles by bicycle from our home in Johnston. This was my first bike & bird trip to explore this area. The area is like Gavin's Point Dam. There is an overflow channel from the dam as well as quieter backwater areas such as this one where I found these two Green Herons. A Pileated Woodpecker began calling shortly after I took this image.
10 September 24, 2025 Neal Smith Trail -- The Johnston city trail system connects with the Neal Smith Trail about a mile from our home. South of this intersection, the trail goes through Des Moines and other suburbs. The trail north of this intersection runs from Johnston to Polk City along the east side of Saylorville Lake and by or through several Corps of Engineer campgrounds and recreational areas associated with the lake. This image is from one of the campgrounds along Neal Smith North trail.
Above images copyright 2025 by Randall D Williams, used with permission.
