I couldn't resist!

"Sure enjoy looking at all your photos. You see nature like most of us never get to see. Sure glad you have such an enjoyable hobby."

― Joanne L. Kellerman 

The weather on Sunday (November 1st) was so nice I decided to check the Wisconsin River again for tiger beetle activity. Temps were into the lower 70s, which we all know is a tad warm for this time of year. I decided not to wait until the weekend because we're going to get lows in the 30s, and that ought to drive over-wintering adults into their burrows until spring.

Far from the two or three I was expecting, the count easily topped ten this time.

 

Is it a good thing I'm finding tiger beetles more regularly in November? Probably not. 

 

Portrait time ... 

All the above shots of of the same individual, but check this out ...

I've run into this one before ...

The photo on the left is from October 19th (from this blog post), and I managed to cross paths with the same tiger beetle two weeks later on Sunday. If you look closely at the rear markings, you'll spot two tiny, offset dots, one at the end of each maculation. See that? You'll note that there are several other matching patterns on the middle maculations. Cooler yet, I remember the exact spot where I took the first photo, and this same beetle turned up 400 yards further up the shoreline. Well, they can fly, don't you know.

But the day's surprises were just beginning ...

My first November Festive Tiger Beetles!

Dr. Brust said this blew away his latest record for this species. 

Note the connected front and middle maculations on this one ...

Because they were out, I thought I'd experiment with using a flash for Shoreline Wolf Spiders.

I think using a flash makes them standout better ...

Photographing tiger beetles means accepting that these spiders are going to use me as a jungle gym. Do I mind? Not at all. They're harmless, won't bite, and are simply treating me like a walking bridge to get to wherever they're headed. I don't want to crush them, so I'm always careful when moving to a new spot.

The simple rewards of the river! While it's never had a reputation as a local birding mecca, it still surprises me—I've crossed paths with Yellow-breasted Chats here more than once. Because Pheasant Branch steals almost all my attention during spring and fall migration, I've never truly put this stretch of the habitat to the test, leaving its real avian potential an open question. It's a great spot for insects, though.

All images © 2026 Mike McDowell

October Ends

"Every part of nature teaches that the passing away of one life is the making room for another. The oak dies down to the ground, leaving within its rind a rich virgin mold, which will impart a vigorous life to an infant forest."

— Henry David Thoreau

Devil's Lake State Park felt like the perfect spot to cap off October. While fall color maps show our part of Wisconsin is at peak or already fading, it was still a great outing. I've definitely seen Devil's Lake put on more stunning fall displays in past years, but this one certainly didn't disappoint.

Well, what's this adorable little critter?

It's an American Red Squirrel (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus), though I've always favored the name Pine Squirrel. Older folksy nicknames like "boomer" or "chickaree" fit them well—both inspired by their loud, machine-gun chatter. While ubiquitous throughout the timber and bluffs of Devil's Lake, these small arboreal rodents are far more often heard than seen by passing visitors. 

"Relax, pal ... I'm not going to steal your food."

Finally ...

The squirrel made repeated sorties to the leaf litter, snatching up meals before darting back to the relative safety of the lower tree limbs.

Why not make a stop at the Sauk Canoe Launch on such a beautiful afternoon?

A few Swamp Sparrows were present in habitat along the shoreline, first heard and then seen. Several Ring-billed Gulls stood poised for flight on a sandbar. From across the river came the familiar rattling call of a Belted Kingfisher. A few Eastern Bluebirds passed overhead, heading south. Not a single Yellow-rumped Warbler was found. I do cherish my hearing. It's still my most valuable bird-detection tool, and I'm grateful I didn't destroy it with all that loud music in my younger days.

Surprise! There were at least three Bronzed Tiger Beetles.

I wanted to photograph their elytra to compare against the individual I documented here a few weeks back, but every beetle I found was a different one. Given temperatures pushing into the 70s, it wasn't much of a surprise to find active tiger beetles still out and about along the shoreline. There are enough subtle differences in maculations that it's pretty easy to tell them apart in close-up photos.

You can see that this individual's front maculation is less curved on the rear tip, and it's middle maculation is more flattened compared with the one found two weeks ago. You can see other differences if you look closely. In any case, I have encountered the same individual a week apart, which I've observed with Ghost Tiger Beetles at Sauk Rec. Naturally, when the habitat is crawling with them, it's much harder to repeat, which is the case with Hairy-necked at Arena.

So, my prediction was wrong. Looking at the 10-day forecast for November, there might still be a chance to find them next week. If I do, it will be only the third time I've documented tiger beetles past October.

This time, there were some remarkably large Shoreline Wolf Spiders! They weren't quite as massive as the palm-sized ones I've encountered in the past, but they were still impressively formidable.

 Now you see it ... now you don't ...

Lighting is everything with these super-camouflaged critters.

And so that's it for October. The changing seasons bring different subjects, different challenges, and sometimes a different kind of reward. Before long, the tiger beetles will be gone, the leaves fallen, and most migratory birds will have moved on. But there's no shortage of reasons to get outside. Winter has its own natural history, after all, and I'm not one to spend it looking out the window.

All images © 2026 Mike McDowell

The Last One? I think so.

"Sometimes the sunset is so beautiful, I think it might be the very last one."

― Nitya Prakash 

Sue and I headed back to Sauk on Sunday to see if we could turn up any lingering tiger beetles. The forecast called for only a few hours of clear skies that morning, but the sunshine held throughout the day. Our first planned stop was the canoe launch, where we came up empty. At Sauk Prairie State Recreation Area, however, we managed to find a single Oblique-lined Tiger Beetle. Well, Sue found it first—she has a knack for spotting them when numbers are low. 

As a spring-fall species, this adult emerged earlier this summer, showing only minor damage on one of its elytra. While they typically go inactive for the winter by late September, warm weather can keep a few active into October. You may recall I've spotted Bronzed Tiger Beetles in early November, but this individual might be my final tiger beetle of the 2026 season—though Oblique-lined holds my personal record for the earliest emergence. 

While this individual seemed unable to fly, it could still run super fast, making it a challenging subject to photograph. Naturally, they're exceedingly more difficult to deal with when they can fly.

A four-month hiatus from tiger beetling is a long wait, but the quiet of winter shifts my attention to other aspects of the natural world. It also gives me a chance to catch up on all the reading I've put off since spring. If the warm weather holds, there may yet be a November sighting, but we'll see. Something tells me, though, this one was the last of the season.

Before going to Sauk Rec, we checked the canoe launch on the Wisconsin River where we did not find a single tiger beetle—recall that there was a Bronzed here the previous week. Well, it's a lot of territory to cover for just one insect. We could have easily missed it.

There were a few Shoreline Wolf Spiders (Arctosa littoralis) on the beach ...

This one was on the larger side with an unusual coloration—more mottled orange than tan. While this species can match substrate tones during development, the vivid pattern and larger frame might also reflect a recent molt or age. 

A final look at the river habitat framing the lingering fall foliage. We still love visiting in winter, when the shifting ice creates remarkable photographic subjects.

We spent the remainder of the day looking at fall colors, checking the area at the south end of Burma Road near Devil's Lake State Park, which is accessible from Sauk Rec.

On our way back to Middleton we stopped at Indian Lake Park for a late afternoon hike.

The colors were definitely at peak!

Partway down the main trail, we discovered that a new section of the Ice Age Trail opened on Friday, so we decided to check it out. After hiking it, Sue and I agreed it'll be our new favorite trail at ILP, offering a fresh perspective on the landscape and the kettle lake.

Naturally ...

During my final visit with my mom, I told her something I've said to her before: Thank you for giving me life. I said the same thing when she gave me my grandfather's telescope. But the words that followed carried the true weight of a life lived on my own terms—I haven't wasted it.  

 

I think to say this to one's parent isn't just an expression of gratitude—it means looking back over decades of curiosity, patient observation, and quiet discipline, knowing that time wasn't spent idly or lost to distraction, but anchored by being in the present moment. Living life filled with purpose—whether spent studying patterns of the natural world, sharing knowledge with others, or simply standing still in wild places—is perhaps the highest form of thanks anyone can offer for the gift of existence. 

All images © 2026 Mike McDowell