If the warm weather the past few days has not caused you to daydream a little about spring, you need to check your pulse! After an extensive spell of cold weather, which caused me to check my outdoor thermometer because it seemed to be stuck on 20 degrees, these warm and sunny days were a blessing. Suddenly, we are aware of all the things we need to do to get ready for spring and do not know where to start!
Those of us who are old enough to remember opening day sometimes need to remind ourselves that fishing season is now year-long. Barring some extraordinary cold or one of those March (or April!) blizzards, the trout stocking should get started in time to ensure great April angling when those beautiful Massachusetts hatchery trout are released into lakes, ponds, rivers and streams. Time to get the fishing gear out and see what new stuff will make you a better fisherman!
You may not want to put the ice fishing gear away quite yet. Late fishing tends to be productive as fish get active when things start happening under the ice like invertebrate hatches. As always, use caution and make sure you have planned for all contingencies.
Meanwhile, the natural world is letting us know spring is right around the corner. If you have been outside recently you have heard the increased songbird activity as males become more vocal. They are getting ready for the territorial challenges over domain. Migrants including waterfowl are beginning to appear and my favorite, American woodcock, will be flying into town any day now. The woodcock courtship ritual remains one of nature’s coolest shows. If you can take in the dusk performance, the male’s ground calls (prnnt!) is followed by a spectacular flight straight up and a spiraling down to attract the attention of hens. The scene is usually small forest openings like pastures near the wet soils that the woodcock inhabit in order to find their preferred food, earthworms.
The other upland favorite, the ruffed grouse, also features a musical performance by males who “drum.” Again, trying to impress the ladies, male ruffed grouse (often called partridge) will find a good, elevated spot like a log or stump to put on the show. Beating their wings in a quickening crescendo, they produce noise that sounds like a tractor starting up in the distance. This drumming is a way for biologists to take a population survey. Having participated in this data gathering in the past, it is interesting as you stop and listen for, I believe, three minutes and then drive one-tenth of a mile and then stop and listen again. This is repeated over a route of a few miles and the same route is done each year to establish population trends.
For most of us, our spring sounds will be the many songbirds that are found everywhere. Back in the day, you learned birding from someone experienced or by reading a field guide. In our modern technology-rich world, you can listen to the songs online or on your smart phone and there are apps available for your phone that will actually listen to a call and then identify the bird for you. If you want to learn more, the Athol Bird and Nature Club is a great place to start. They have birding events, webinars and programs that will help you get started in birding. It is a great activity to get you outdoors and we live in the middle of great bird habitat.
Speaking of birds, this writer has begun prepping for turkey season. Hopefully, that will mean another trip to Kansas to “visit my sister” if my search for a vaccine appointment ever is successful. Very frustrating to date but a glimmer of hope is appearing. Tom turkeys are now gobbling, and the flock dynamics are changing. All winter, hens and offspring from last spring have been grouped together while mature males, called gobblers or toms, have been in small bachelor groups. Soon, the young males born last spring, called jakes, will break off from the flocks and form their own groups. Over time, as the days grow longer, hens will single off as individuals and look to mate and nest. The spring hunting season is designed to occur after the start of the breeding cycle and in Massachusetts, it ends at noon to allow hens undisturbed time to tend the eggs once they are incubating. That season in most northeast states is in May, with Massachusetts opening the last Monday in April.
Tuesday night, MassWildlife Director Mark Tisa held the first of three weekly information sessions via Zoom to provide information on the proposed fee hikes put forward to stabilize the agency’s finances. There is a great deal of misunderstanding about why the increase is needed and the presentation lays out the rationale. Unfortunately, in order to avoid deficit, the increases are steep as it the first increase in over 25 years and license costs and permits have been too low as a result. The many factors that are driving the need are relatively new as the financial landscape for hunting and fishing agencies across the country is rapidly changing with steeply declining sales/revenue and sharply increasing costs. The North American model of financing conservation is becoming outmoded and needs to be looked at in every state and the Congress.
It was great to see that our senator, Anne Gobi, has taken the initiative to address one of MassWildlife’s serious issues, that being state-mandated and unfunded free licenses to residents over 70, which is adding to the financial challenge. She should be commended for the action, which like all proposed legislation, faces the obstacles of any proposed bill looking for support and passage in both houses and then the approval of the governor.
I got quite a bit of feedback on my boat re-upholstery. Topstitch Custom Vinyl Upholstery is actually located in Charlemont. You can find samples on Google or call or text Jeff Rumgay at 413-475-2776.