Tri-State Outdoor News

Each year, birders from around the country gather in local groups for the National Audubon Society’s Annual Christmas Bird Count. The following was written by Tom Cronk of Vincennes and details his day in the field with his son, Adam, as the two took part in the Knox County event on Jan. 3,2009. The story was posted in the bird watching forum on www.tristateoutdoornews.com. It contains various bird lingo such as the four-letter code used to document the various species of birds seen. Some of that coding has been preserved.

It was 5:30 a.m. on a chilly January morning. My son, Adam and I were getting ready to start our day for the annual Knox County Christmas Bird Count. We were paired to cover a slice of the circle in concert with several other teams of expert birders. The pressure was on and the excitement mounting. Weeks of intense preparation were finally culminating in an arduous day of searching for, identifying and counting as many bird species as we could possibly muster. Camera lenses had been cleaned, batteries charged, and clothing and gear laid out and ready to don as we started our day. More »

Economic woes are impacting RVers, especially manufacturers, retailers and suppliers, but much of the industry still is healthy, and for buyers with cash there are plenty of opportunities.

It’s also sport show season, presenting opportunities to view the latest in RV and camping rigs as well associated equipment.

There was economic realism about the industry’s future and the Recreational Vehicle Industry Association’s annual trade-only show held in Louisville in early December. Despite declines in “RV shipments and reduced sales forecast due to the tightest credit conditions in several decades, most exhibitors maintained optimism about the industry’s long-term future. More »

Indiana hunters killed 610 wild turkeys during the 2008 fall wild turkey hunting season. Wild turkeys were killed in 57 of the 74 counties open to turkey hunting during the season, which ran from Oct. 1 to 19.

The 2008 season was Indiana’s fourth modern-day fall turkey hunting season. Hunters experienced a 4 percent increase in success when compared to the 585 turkeys taken during the 2007 fall turkey season. The record is 716 turkeys in 2005.

During the 14-day archery-only season, Oct. 1 to 14, hunters killed 132 turkeys, accounting for 22 percent of the total. The majority of the fall harvest occurred during the combined shotgun and archery season, Oct. 15 to 19, when hunters killed 478 turkeys, accounting for 78 percent of the total fall harvest. More »

If you ask any serious deer hunter the most important aspect to killing a mature buck, “Paying attention to wind direction” is likely the response you will get. Most hunters know that a deer’s sense of smell is it best defense – and the one on which it relies the most.

Well, over the years, I have found that wind direction can also play an important role in turkey hunting – although for a much different reason.

Turkeys don’t have the sense of smell of a deer. If they did, we would be lucky to ever kill one. But they do sometimes use the wind in order to help dictate their travel routes, especially gobblers who are searching for hens. More »

If Canada geese have become a problem on your property, attend one of six seminars being presented in March and April by the Department of Natural Resources’ Urban Wildlife Project.

The first seminar is March 10 at the Bartholomew County Extension Service Office in Columbus. Seminars also will be held March 12 at the Wesselman Woods Visitor Center in Evansville and March 19 at the Recreation Building inside Fort Harrison State Park in Indianapolis. At the Tippecanoe County Extension Service Office in Lafayette a seminar will be held on March 31, at the Potato Creek State Park Nature Center near North Liberty on April 1, and at the Salomon Farm Visitors Center in Fort Wayne on April 2. All seminars run from 9 to approximately noon. All interested landowners, managers of corporate campuses, golf course or park employees, and the general public are invited. More »

The Wesselman Nature Society will again be tapping the sweetness of sugar maple trees during its The Maple Sugarbush Festival and Pancake Breakfast Saturday, March 7 and Sunday, March.

The Maple Sugarbush Festival is a family-friendly event that celebrates the maple sugar harvest from the trees of the Wesselman Woods Nature Preserve. Visitors of all ages will enjoy the opportunity to tour the woods to observe how sap is harvested from the plentiful sugar maple trees and processed into concentrated maple syrup. The history of maple sugaring and the vital processes inside of the trees will be revealed. Visitors will then get to enjoy the homegrown and homemade maple syrup in a hearty pancake breakfast, which also includes sausage, orange juice, milk, and coffee. This is a oncea- year opportunity to enjoy the rich history of maple sugaring and the Wesselman Woods Nature Preserve.

For more information about this event, please contact Wesselman Nature Society Director of Education Lauren Preske (lpreske@wesselmannaturesociety. org).

Speculation about a nationwide decline in frogs and toads has prompted the Indiana DNR to offer three one-time workshops on Indiana’s 17 frog and toad species.

The purpose is to train volunteers to help gauge the state’s populations of these amphibians.

Attendees will learn how to identify Indiana toads and frogs by their calls and how to conduct the surveys. Those who take a class may volunteer to assist the DNR with Indiana Amphibian Monitoring Program (INAMP). One does not have to volunteer for the program to be eligible to attend the training session, and you do not have to attend the training session to volunteer. Past program participants are not required to attend to volunteer again. More »

Mitchell, Spring Mill State Park invites you to enter our Third Annual Nature Poetry Contest. We are looking for poems about the natural world in Southern Indiana or your experiences in it. Poems will be accepted from Jan. 5 to March 13, with winners announced May 2.

Contest rules are available at Spring Mill State Park, or upon request at 812-849-4129. Put pen to paper and create the poem that will win this year’s poetry contest. More »

Do trees in winter leave you cold? Don’t know a poplar from pine? Well now is the chance to learn more about the winter woodlands through a “Winter Tree ID and Winter Botany Workshop at Brown County State Park on Saturday, Feb. 28 from 9 am to noon (EST).

Presenters for the workshop will be Dan Shaver from The Nature Conservancy, Dan McGuckin, Director, Habitat Solutions and Jim Eagleman, Interpretive Naturalist.

The workshop should to conclude by noon and lite refreshments will be provided. More »

Indiana businesses, agricultural producers, governments, individuals, technical assistance organizations, educational groups and nonprofit organizations who can demonstrate extraordinary efforts in pollution prevention and environmental management are encouraged to apply for the 2009 Indiana’s Governor’s Awards for Environmental Excellence.

Awards will be given for three categories, Energy/Renewable Resources, Pollution Prevention and Five Years’ Continuous Improvement. These awards are open to all Indiana facilities, state and local units of government, individuals, and technical assistance organizations that implement exemplary environmental projects with measurable results. More »