WILD OF THE WEEK

Ken ‘‘Husker’’ O’Malley caught this hummingbird ‘‘fueling up for the long road trip ahead.’’

WILD TIMES PHEASANTS FOREVER

Thursday: DuPage County dinner, Abbington Distinctive Banquets, Glen Ellyn. Contact Jake Bartels at bartels. jake@gmail.com or (312) 771-7283.

HUNTER SAFETY

Oct. 30-31: Elgin, hsmagno48@gmail.com. . . . Morris, scoutingevent.com/702-51491.

WINGSHOOTING CLINICS

Saturday-next Sunday: Elburn. Info at scscwingshooting@gmail.com.

ILLINOIS SEASONS

Today: Early catch-and-release trout season opens at select sites. Closest is Rock Creek at Kankakee River State Park.

DALE’S MAILBAG

‘‘Why on earth are these not eaten? I’m told it’s a firm, white meat. Chefs of the Food Channel showed how well it turns out.’’ — Thomas Maru, on the column last week about netting invasive carp

A: There have been attempts to create markets for decades — without much success. That’s one reason the plan is to rebrand invasive carp.

BIG NUMBER

1,000

Estimate of small boats fishing for coho on Sept. 23, 1967, when a squall brought 25-foot waves and beached or capsized hundreds in the Frankfort River Platte area of northern Lake Michigan, according to the U.S. Coast Guard Great Lakes Facebook page.

THE LAST WORD

‘‘Somewhere lives a bad Cajun cook, just as somewhere must live one last ivorybilled woodpecker. For me, I don’t expect ever to encounter either one.’’

— William Least Heat-Moon, while driving through Louisiana in ‘‘Blue Highways: A Journey Into America.’’ (Ivory-billed woodpeckers were among 23 species declared extinct Wednesday by the Fish and Wildlife Service.)