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Remembering close encounters with friendly grouse

A few days ago, while doing some research on the Pennsylvania Game Commission website, I clicked on a link to a video titled “Tame Grouse.” The short film showed Game Commission ruffed grouse biologist, Lisa Williams, enjoying an encounter with an apparently tame ruffed grouse. Williams stated, however, that the young male bird was indeed a wild Pennsylvania grouse that had never been raised or fed by humans and that such “tame grouse behavior,” although rare, is regularly observed in wild birds. I have been fortunate to have encountered two such seemingly friendly grouse ...

Federal government scales back wild bird protection

By Matthew Brown The Associated Press BILLINGS, Mont. — The Trump administration earlier this week finalized changes that weaken the government’s enforcement powers under a century-old law protecting most American wild bird species, brushing aside warnings that billions of birds could die as a result. Federal wildlife officials have acknowledged the move could result in more deaths of birds that land in oil pits or collide with power lines or other structures. A U.S. District Court judge in August had blocked the administration’s prior attempt to change how the Migratory ...

Making time for the feeding of winter birds

Photography has long been one of my favorite hobbies and a perfect complement to all my other outdoor pursuits. Needless to say, I was delighted to count a new camera as a Christmas present this year. Okay, in full disclosure, it was really a gift to myself. I just couldn’t resist the holiday sale price offered for a model I had my eye on. A new camera is always a special treat, but winter isn’t always the most photo friendly in our part of the world. Sure, a blanket of fresh snow can turn the landscape into a winter wonderland with unlimited photo opportunities, but once deer ...

HARRISBURG — A new season of live-streamed action from a bald-eagle nest near Codorus State Park in Hanover is underway. The Pennsylvania Game Commission recently announced its popular Eagle Cam, a joint project with partners HDOnTap and Comcast Business, has returned. The Hanover cam is one of two bald-eagle livestreams the Game Commission, HDOnTap and Comcast Business are planning this nesting season. No date has been selected for the launch of the Farm Country Eagle Cam. This is the seventh year for the 24-7 livestream at the Hanover nest. HDOnTap Co-Founder Tiffany Sears said ...

Nature knows what to do in the woods

It is not just hunters who express concern for the state’s wildlife during a prolonged and wicked winter. We seem to be on the path to a tough winter this year. Many non-hunters also wonder how wildlife survives during rough winters. It is not easy to explain nor to contemplate. But wildlife copes differently than humans do with harsh conditions. Here is a quote from the vintage book “Rambling through Penn’s Woods,” a hard-to- find book these days since it was published in 1981. The book is a collection of articles once published in “The Pennsylvania Naturalist” ...

Reminiscing about muzzleloaders in the ’70s

As the late archery and flintlock deer seasons get underway this weekend, a contingent of intrepid hunters will venture forth with those special weapons for a final chance to put some venison in the freezer this winter. Both seasons run through Jan. 23. These late hunts present plenty of challenges, especially with some of the harsh weather that can happen in January. Bows and arrows were first legalized for deer hunting in Pennsylvania in 1929. The first archery season for deer in Pennsylvania occurred in the fall of 1951. The first winter archery season came in 1964 and was ...