Tom Schrader

eagles

In Defense of Eagles

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Those of you who have followed my blog here over the years know that I am a passionate fan of Bald Eagles, particularly those nesting in our Fox River Valley.  As I write this month’s blog (in late March), we are solidly into the Bald Eagle nesting season in our area.  Most eagles laid their … Read more

The Fox River Runs Through It

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With apologies to Norman McClean and his A River Runs Through It, my column this month is going to be an autobiographical story consisting of several vignettes taken from my life experiences that illustrate what a critical role the Fox River has played in many aspects of my life over the years.  I was inspired … Read more

Reflections on 2024: It Was Quite a Year

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For my column this month, I decided to look back on all the amazing things that I saw and photographed over the course of the last calendar year.  The year presented me with a few unique opportunities including checking four items off my personal bucket list: 1) Photographing a total solar eclipse (in April), 2) … Read more

Eyes to the Sky

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Since last month’s Reflections on the Fox column, some very significant events have occurred in the skies over the Fox River Valley.  First, on the evening of Thursday, October 10, another magnificent display of the aurora borealis occurred a little after 9 p.m.  The aurora displays are a result of solar particles expelled in coronal … Read more

Don’t Judge a Book by Its Cover 

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… or A Face Only a Mother Could Love This month’s Reflections on the Fox topic literally kind of flew into my mind one day a couple of weeks ago when I visited the Fox River observation platform at the Hoover Forest Preserve in Yorkville.  This spot is one of my favorites for viewing all … Read more

“Slow Down, You Move Too Fast…”

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I thought the opening line of Simon and Garfunkel’s “Feeling Groovy (59th Street Bridge Song)” was an appropriate title for my contribution for this month’s “Reflections on the Fox” column.  It’s been my motto in birding and fishing for a long, long time but even more so now that my mobility has been limited lately … Read more

Reflections on the Solar Eclipse

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On Monday, April 8, 2024, I travelled approximately 260 miles to east central Indiana to view the first total solar eclipse I have seen.  I had been looking forward to this event since the last eclipse in 2017 that occurred while I was working at the College of DuPage.  I didn’t have the opportunity to … Read more

A Red-letter Day

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Tuesday, March 26, 2024 is a day I’ll remember for a long time!  For on that day, I checked off one of the items I’ve aspired to on my personal birding bucket list: seeing and photographing a Whooping Crane!  I had seen a Whooping Crane flying with a flock of Sandhills back in March of … Read more