Photos of pileated woodpeckers in the Palos area and an eastern milksnake found at Lemont Quarries are among the notes from around Chicago outdoors and beyond.
Ray Adams
A: Yes, it is a mudpuppy and relatively rare. Chicago anglers occasionally catch mudpuppies in the colder months, especially at Navy Pier. They are rare enough that the Shedd Aquarium was involved in an extended study on Lake Michigan and Wolf Lake. Mudpuppies are amphibians, one of the largest salamanders. Click here for a column about that study at Wolf Lake. Click here for a follow-up column based on this scholarly article.
WILD OF THE WEEK
Brian Konet photographed this loon [below] in late March and emailed, “It was cool seeing a loon, not too common. It was on a pond in Frankfort.” Loons are one of my favorite birds.