It is beautiful to look at, and is not an unexpected outcome of living in a Midwest location like Iowa. As we adapt and cope with these elements, I urge all dedicated outdoor enthusiasts to embrace this interlude of living with winter.

Make it fun for yourself and the family. Go outside to hike, snowshoe, cross-country ski, or make new images on your camera, or better yet, an impression on your mind’s memory. Enjoy the snow.

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Resident year around bird species may not be a thing everyone thinks about, so here is a list compiled long ago at Iowa State University’s Department of Animal Ecology. These feathered wildlife critters are out there, somewhere, awaiting discovery by you or me, as we endure a long winter season remaining before us.

Permanent resident status titles go to Eastern Screech Owl, Great-horned Owl, and Barred Owl. Add Short-eared Owl to the Owl category.

Woodpecker family permanent residents are Red-bellied, Hairy, and Downy. Then add this assortment of birds like the Blue Jay, Black-capped Chickadee, Tufted Titmouse, White-breasted Nuthatch, and Brown Creeper.

Mention of course is not complete without giving credit to Northern Cardinals where the males are bright red and the females are adorned with grayish-reddish tinted buffy browns on all of her feathers. Her beak is red.

Iowa’s official state bird, the Eastern Goldfinch, is a permanent resident. Iowa shares state bird status with New Jersey and Washington. It is no mistaken identity that Goldfinch’s black and yellow colors have been adopted by certain team players at the University of Iowa.

Iowa legislators declared during their session of 1933 that the Eastern Goldfinch would be our State Bird. New Jersey made that proclamation in 1913. Washington state did so in 1928.

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Bird counts conducted at the vicinity of Grammer Grove Wildlife Area were tabulated last fall beginning on Sept. 1 and going through Dec. 11. People helping with this annual private citizen science project were Mark Proescholdt, Phil Tetzloff, Andy Spellman, Diana Pesek and a few others as their time allowed.

The Iowa River valley with its mix of forests and open lands is a natural pathway to follow for many migrating species of avian life critters. Proescholdt family members started this endeavor many decades ago out of pure love for the idea of documenting different species of falcons, hawks, eagles, kestrels, Merlins, Harriers, Ospreys and Vultures. The count during 2024 did not disappoint the observers.

The group of birders accumulated 81 days and 321 hours watching the sky for raptors flying south. Species count was 14 this year. They have had past years with 17 species. Total numbers added up to 2,611.

Highest individual species count went to Broad-winged Hawks with 826 followed by turkey vultures at 734. Bald Eagles tallied 425, Red-tailed hawks 273, Sharp-shinned hawks 244, and a smaller number of Ospreys, Northern Harriers, Cooper’s hawks, Red-shouldered hawks, Rough-legged hawks, Golden Eagles, American Kestrels, Merlins and a few Peregrine Falcons.

Data from these observations has been posted to data@hawkcount.org. Thank you Mark Proescholdt for your dedication to citizen science.

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New year’s resolutions for outdoor folks.

Go fishing locally. Green Castle or Sand Lake are close and easily accessible.

Support private and public conservation organizations and agencies. A fact of life is that conservation efforts cost money.

Take a young person outdoors and just have fun exploring everything from birds to rocks to tree leaves or animal tracks.

Be a good wildlife viewer. Travel to local or state wildlife areas with binoculars and good guide books.

Attend banquets such as Ducks Unlimited, Pheasants Forever, Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, or the Iowa Deer Classic in early March of 2025.

Be a conservationist and learn more about the time tested North American Model of Wildlife Conservation.

Go hunting — for small game or big game as a passionate activity that hopefully will become ingrained on your list of bucket list items.

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I’ll close this edition with some facts that are out of this world. They are facts however as determined by astronomers who wanted to understand the big picture of planet earth and our sun.

Did you know? Our earth’s axis is tilted away from the plane of its orbit by about 23.44

degrees. This alone is the reason we experience winter, spring, summer and fall seasons. The earth is at perihelion, its closest distance to the sun on Jan. 3. That distance is 91,532,220 miles.

On July 4, the earth’s orbit will be at aphelion, its farthest distance from the sun at 94,514,940 miles. Earth’s average distance to the sun is pegged at 92,961,440 miles which is often rounded up to an even 93,000,000 miles.

The axial tilt of the earth points itself away from the sun during winter and toward the sun during summer. Winter time does not allow for as much solar influence on our atmosphere in the northern hemisphere. Summer time tilt toward the sun does increase the amount of solar insolation received north of the equator.

With an Earth to sun distance (radius) of 93,000,000 miles multiplied by two equals 186,000,000 miles. This the “d” in the equation C= Pi x d.

The total distance of the circumference of the earth’s path around the sun is therefore a bit more than 584 million miles. If we do the math, divide 584 million miles by 365 days in one year, and you get 1.6 million miles per day that the earth travels along its orbital pathway.

This means that the earth as one space body and all the life and things on the earth is traveling at about 67,000 miles per hour!

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A quote from Winston Churchill: “Truth is incontrovertible. Panic may resent it. Ignorance may deride it. Malice may distort it. But there it is.”

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Garry Brandenburg is the retired director of the Marshall County Conservation Board. He is a graduate of Iowa State University with a BS degree in Fish & Wildlife Biology.