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Outdoors

Vernal school day camps coming up for registration this summer

The Middle Susquehanna Riverkeeping Association’s annual summer day camp programs for young learners are open for registration. With limited spaces available and growing popularity over the past couple summers, we anticipate they will fill quickly. • Habitat Helpers, our preschool-aged program, is scheduled for four dates, each focusing on a different habitat. Activities, take-home projects and even the snacks are themed around the day’s habitat offering. Sessions include June 3 (woodland), June 4 (grassland), June 10 (wetland) and June 11 (soils). Targeted age range for this ...

Reflections in Nature: Carpenter bees are out and about this time of the year, boring holes

I saw my first carpenter bee of the season and I’m ready to continue the battle. Many years ago Mary Alice had a garden shed built in our back yard. Several years later a few carpenter bees found the shed to be an excellent place to build nests. At first I was not alarmed and did nothing. A few years later, however, Mary Alice told me that the carpenter bees were boring lots of holes in her garden shed. That was when the big bee battle began. The carpenter bee found in our area resembles the common bumblebee. However, the carpenter bee has a shiny, bluish-black abdomen whereas the ...

DCNR opens $500,000 grant program to protect at-risk wildlife, native plants

HARRISBURG — Applications are now open for the 2026 Wild Resource Conservation Program (WRCP), which offers grants to support research and conservation projects that protect Pennsylvania’s native wildlife, plants, and ecosystems. The program, which is overseen by the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, will invest more than $500,000 in projects across the Commonwealth. The WRCP provides critical support for conserving non-game animals, native plants and fungi, and invertebrates such as insects — species often left out of traditional conservation programs but vital ...

Outdoors community calendar for week of May 12

AUDUBON EVENT: SKYLINE DRIVE BIRD WALK WHERE: Parking area/rest stop off Route 15 South, three miles from Beiter’s Furniture in South Williamsport WHEN: Saturday, May 16 at 8 a.m. NOTES: Skyline Drive is closed to vehicular traffic, but the paved road is walkable, gently ascending the slope of Bald Eagle Mountain. We expect to see and hear resident birds of a typical mixed Pennsylvania forest, including spring warblers. Towards the mountain top, tree species change, and the vistas of the West Branch Valley are a treat. All are welcome to join. SPRING AMBIENCE WALK WHERE: ...

Reflections in Nature: Lilacs are among the most fragrant of northern shrub species

The four seasons that we experience here in Pennsylvania are a special treat. Being a game warden for 34 years, I had many occasions to spend time in Penn’s Woods during all four seasons. Although in the woods, after a fresh snowfall, I would find myself in a winter wonderland, my favorite time was spent in the spring woods at daybreak. Spring turkey season ranked high as being my favorite hunting season. Turkey hunters need to be in the spring woods before daybreak. This allows hunters to watch the sun come up and hear the woods come alive as the birds begin their singing, making ...