Adult male Baltimore Orioles are the quintessential American orioles that add the richest hues of orange to your yard.

The new grape jelly fan was a Yellow Warbler that regularly visited the primary oriole feeder last week. How many different birds eat grape jelly at your feeder?

We have long promoted adding grape jelly to your feeding station, this year and other years. We knew grape jelly is the primary gourmet interest of orioles, but last week we realized that grape jelly was driving all the birds to our feeding station – Baltimore Orioles, Orchard Orioles, Yellow Warblers, House Finches, Gray Catbirds, American Robins, and yes, even Ruby-throated Hummingbirds check out the jelly offerings for small flying insects before or after they stop at the nectar feeder. These are really exciting birds to observe and to attract to your yard this spring, and maybe through the summer. Read more

Forest management basics sessions to help landowners set and meet forestry goals

Have you considered managing your forested property but aren’t sure where to start? Would you like to learn more about the benefits of forest management? Do you wonder what happens to logs once they are harvested?

Join the Michigan Department of Natural Resources and Michigan State University Extension to have your forestry questions answered.

Two free, virtual webinars and two half-day field tours are designed to help you effectively set and meet goals for your forested property. Read more

Washington, D.C. – May 23, 2022 – The American Petroleum Institute (API) and Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever today announced a new partnership to deliver on the significant habitat enhancement potential of an estimated 12 million acres of pipeline rights-of-way and facilities. Designed to advance ongoing conservation and community engagement efforts, the partnership will launch pilot programs along pipeline routes and in communities surrounding industry operations to help deliver the wildlife habitat goals of Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever’s Rights-of-Way & Energy (ROWE) Habitat Program. Marathon Pipe Line and Shell Pipeline Company are among the first to pilot programs under this partnership this summer.

“We are thrilled to join forces with Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever to deliver on the tremendous opportunity that thousands of miles energy rights-of-way present for wildlife habitat enhancement,” API President and CEO Mike Sommers said. “Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever have a wealth of wildlife habitat management experience that American energy operators can use to advance our industry’s environmental stewardship – from cultivating native species for bobwhite quail or monarch butterflies to protecting endangered wildlife to preventing soil erosion.” Read more

Photographing hummingbirds in flight is not an exact science, but the possibilities of getting action photos are best when the tiny birds hover for a moment, which often happens as they approach a nectar feeder or a perch (Ruby-throated Hummingbird photos by Paul Konrad).

Stopping all the motion of a flying hummingbird is not always possible, but some wing motion can be pleasing in hummingbird photos. A dark background provides an interesting option, but lighter-colored backgrounds are usually preferred. Try your hand at hummingbird photography when you next encounter them – it’s easier than you may think.

Hummingbirds create a lot of interest among birders, and with hummingbird migration and nesting in progress, depending on where you are located this may be the best time of the year to see hummingbirds at your nectar feeder and flower garden. This year, consider investing a little more time hummingbirding by trying to take a few simple photos of these flying dynamos. Start simple when they are perched at your nectar feeder, then try some flight photos – we bet it will open up a new area of interest in backyard birding for you. Read more

Members of the Boone and Crockett Club were key players in laying the groundwork for both conservation of game species and generating the funds to pay for it—a system that we still use today. 

There used to be quite a bit of money in duck meat and plumage from wading birds. At the turn of the twentieth century, an enterprising killer could turn a pile of feathers or breast meat into a bag of cash. In fact, giant shotguns—called punt guns—were mounted to boats so shooters could blast hundreds of birds at a time. The meat would supply restaurants with cheap table fare, while the feathers were used to adorn the hats of fashionable ladies. The supply of birds over North American’s skies seemed endless. It wasn’t.

Early members of the Boone and Crockett Club worked to put an end to the wholesale slaughter of birds by pushing legislation like the Migratory Bird Treaty Act in 1918, which established federal control over the hunting of those birds. For bird populations, Club members had stopped the bleeding. Yet without a way to replace the birds that had been lost, it was unlikely populations would recover on their own. It would take more than laws. Restoration was going to take money.
Read more

VIRGINIA BEACH, VA?— On May 12, a soldier at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson (JBER) died of injuries sustained in a bear attack on May 10 while working in a JBER training area. Staff Sgt. Seth Michael Plant, 30, an infantryman from the 3rd Battalion, 509th Parachute Infantry Regiment was a dedicated servicemember who lost his life in an untimely tragedy.

iSportsman, having worked with JBER for many years and proud to have supported many men and women who dedicate their life to the service, would like to extend our condolences.

This week we sat down with bear safety expert Kim Titchener of Bearsafety.com and Recsafewithwildlife.com to discuss the best outdoor practices when it comes to bear incidents and encounters. Our interview can be found on www.iSportsman.com and www.iSportsmanarx.com. Reminders of the article release can be found on our social media pages, such as Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn.

About iSportsman: iSportsmanTM is the leading recreational program management tool by ASciS Solutions in the nation. serving as the enterprise-level provider for the U.S. Army’s and U.S. Air Force’s hunting, fishing and firewood permit sales programs, as well as providing services to the U.S. Marine Corp, Army National Guard, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks & Tourism. ASciS has been delivering SaaS and customized solutions to meet the needs of large-scale recreational programs for more than 12 years and currently manages permit sales, access control, reporting and more for more than 10.6 million acres of forest, fields, trails and waterways across the continental United States, Alaska and Hawaii. Visit isportsman.com for more information.?

The Blue Lakes Fire in the northeastern Lower Peninsula is now 98% contained. As a result, all road closures in the fire area have been lifted. The stretch of the Black River that was previously closed has also been opened.

However, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources still is working to connect remaining gaps in the containment line and mop up within the fire area, which is northwest of Atlanta and spans Montmorency and Cheboygan counties. People who enter the area are urged to be cautious.

“If you are in the area, stay on roads,” said Kerry Heckman, DNR fire public information officer. “There may be hot spots or snags, which are trees that can fall over without warning. There may be smoke, and fire crews will still be working in the area.” Seeing smoke within the fire area is not necessarily cause for alarm and is to be expected.

The final estimate of the fire’s size is 2,516 acres. Estimates can change throughout the course of the fire based on input from fire crews on the ground and high-tech tools such as drones, which were used Monday. Read more

The Blue Lakes Fire in the northern Lower Peninsula now is 75 percent contained and estimated at about 2,200 acres, according to the Michigan Department of Natural Resources.

Some closed roads in the fire area also have been reopened, said Kerry Heckman, DNR fire public information officer.

DNR firefighters and cooperating agencies have been working since Friday to contain the fire, which covers portions of Montmorency and Cheboygan counties. It has been determined that the fire originated with a Wednesday lightning strike that smoldered for a few days before spreading into dry fuels, resulting in a wildfire. The fire was reported about 12:40 p.m. Friday.

Heckman said that containment doesn’t necessarily mean the fire is out, but rather that it is unlikely to spread beyond the containment lines. These are areas where firefighters have been able to plow a line down to bare earth (removing all fire fuels) around that portion of the fire.

“There may still be hot spots within the contained area,” she said. In the case of the Blue Lakes Fire, the uncontained portion of the fire line is primarily in low, wet areas that are difficult for firefighters to reach. Crews will be working today in those areas to connect gaps in the containment line.

Estimating a fire’s size

Fires are mapped throughout the duration, and acreage is estimated. The 2,200 acres being reported today is smaller than Sunday’s estimate due to improved mapping with firefighters on the ground using a variety of tools, Heckman said. Read more