Ricky fishing!

Once again, the mighty fisherman was on a roll at Lake LaVerne on campus. 

He was pulling in Bluegill like crazy!

Not sure if this is Lancelot or the misnamed Elaine (both ISU's swans are male) but he was floating around looking majestic while his partner sat on a nest of stolen Canadian goose eggs. (They do that every year. It's really sad actually. The stolen eggs never hatch.)

Possibly a Wilson's Warbler? It's a yellowish warbler with no real distinct markings so it could be a Wilson's warbler or a female just about anything

Common Yellowthroat

Chipping Sparrow

Common Yellowthroat

American Redstart

I was taking pictures of Rick and the leafy part of the maple seeds kept dropping in my hair. I looked up and this fuzzy little jerk was munching on the seedy bits and dropping his discards on my head!

When he was pulling in this bluegill, Rick's line suddenly jerked to a stop and his pole bent in half. I only saw the water swell and Rick's pole bend, but Rick saw the tail of the giant catfish that had grabbed onto his fish and tried to steal his catch! Rick jerked the bluegill out and reeled it in then released it unharmed (lucky for the bluegill catfish lack teeth!)