Whitehall-Coplay Press

By the time you read this, several hunting seasons, including small game and big game, have opened statewide.

As for big game, it’s muzzleloader bear season in WMUs 2B. 5B. 5C and 5D that runs Oct. 13-20. The small game list includes rabbit, grouse and squirrels with split seasons that run Oct. 13-Nov. 24; Dec. 10-24; and Dec. 26-Feb. 28. The exception is grouse that whose seasons are Oct. 13-Nov. 24 and Dec. 10-24.

According to The Fishing Wire service, the white water release that occurred on Labor Day weekend on the Salmon River (Oswego County) NY, is the trigger for large numbers of spawning Chinook and Coho salmon to enter the river. Each fall, the salmon run draws thousands of anglers to the river from across the northeast.

A sound of late summer customarily starts at dusk and continues through the night hours. And the sound emanates from a source not often seen unless flushed from a hiding place in flower beds, high grasses, under rocks or under trash cans.

What we speak of are crickets. The little black (or brown) crawlers that some anglers use as bait when fishing for bass. Others enjoy hearing their constant chirping when their home windows are open at night. Others wished they’d go away as their constant chirping irritates them and prevents them from sleeping.

The most anticipated archery deer hunting season kicks off this Saturday in Wildlife Management Areas 2B, 5C and 5D. The statewide archery deer season begins two weeks later on Sept. 29. Coincidentally, the early archery bear season also opens Sept. 15 in the same trio of WMUs.

But the primary pursuit is deer. And we do have an abundance of them. In fact, too many in certain areas.

The most anticipated archery deer hunting season kicks off this Saturday in Wildlife Management Areas 2B, 5C and 5D. The statewide archery deer season begins two weeks later on Sept. 29. Coincidentally, the early archery bear season also opens Sept. 15 in the same trio of WMUs.

But the primary pursuit is deer. And we do have an abundance of them. In fact, too many in certain areas.

If you’re an avid bird watcher, you may be seeing an influx of Ruby Throated hummingbirds at your feeders, provided you have an appropriate feeder or flowers for them to feed from.

This influx is because these tiny, colorful and quick birds have begun their fall migration back to southern Mexico and northern Panama.

As they migrate southward, they refuel their bodies in the early morning as they travel by midday and forage again in the late afternoon in an effort to maintain their body weight.

The first part of the small game season traditionally gets underway on the first day of September, and this is when dove and geese become legal game. This year, Sept 1 falls on Saturday, which is great for hunters as it’s a weekend.

Not only did the recent heavy rains and flooding affect Musikfest events and Das Awk Fescht car show, but it created a deadly trout kill at the Lil’ Le-Hi Trout Nursery.

According to Herb Gottschall, president of Lehigh County Fish & Game Association, a few hundred sizable, chunky trout in the 12-14-inch range were killed when heavy rains flooded portions of the popular Lil’ Le-Hi Trout Nursery off Fish Hatchery Road in Allentown.

Last Thursday, the Pennsylvania Fish & Boat Commission transported 15,800 brown and brook trout fingerlings from their Bellefonte Hatchery to the Lil’ Le-Hi Trout Nursery, located on Fish Hatchery Road in Allentown.

The latter is often referred to by many as the Lil’ Le-Hi fish hatchery, but it’s really not. A hatchery, by definition, hatches baby trout from eggs while a nursery receives the baby fish, feeds them and takes care of them while they grow to legal size to be stocked in area waters.

Three weeks ago there was one, two and three. The next week there were five to ten. This week, yards are aglow with their yellow flashes from whence they got their nickname.