Outdoors Notebook: Annual Audubon Christmas Bird Count set for Dec. 14-Jan. 5
Dec. 10—FARGO — For the 123rd year, the National Audubon Society is organizing the annual
Audubon
Christmas Bird Count — or CBC, as it's often known for short. Between Dec. 14 and Jan. 5, tens of thousands of bird-loving volunteers will participate in counts across the Western Hemisphere.
In the Fargo-Moorhead and West Fargo area, volunteers will collect data Saturday, Dec. 17, with the Grand Forks CBC set for Sunday, Dec. 18.
According to Audubon, the 12 decades worth of data collected by Christmas Bird Count participants contribute to one of only two large existing pools of information notifying ornithologists and biologists of what conservation action is required to protect birds and the places they need.
Each individual count takes place in a 15-mile-wide circle and is led by a compiler responsible for safely organizing volunteers and submitting observations directly to Audubon. Within each circle, participants tally all birds seen or heard that day — not just the species, but total numbers — to provide a clear idea of the health of that particular population. Abiding by state and local COVID-19 guidelines is mandatory, Audubon says.
* More info:
. — Herald staff report
BISMARCK — The North Dakota Game and Fish Department and North Dakota Department of Agriculture again this winter are opening the Coyote Catalog, a statewide effort to connect committed hunters and trappers with landowners dealing with coyotes in their areas.
Landowners can sign up on the
Department of Agriculture website
at nd.gov/ndda. Hunters and trappers can sign up on the
Game and Fish website,
Anyone who registered for the Coyote Catalog in the past must register again to activate their name on the database.
Throughout winter, hunters or trappers may receive information on participating landowners, and they should contact landowners to make arrangements. Landowners experiencing coyote depredation of livestock should first contact the U.S. Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services.
The Coyote Catalog will remain active through March 31.
For more information, contact Ryan Herigstad at Game and Fish, (701) 595-4463 or rherigstad@nd.gov; or Colby Lysne at the Department of Agriculture, (701) 390-7515 or clysne@nd.gov. — Herald staff report
BISMARCK — Darkhouse spearing enthusiasts in North Dakota who are required to possess a valid fishing license — everyone age 16 and older — to spear
must first register on the North Dakota Game and Fish Department website,
gf.nd.gov, the department said in a reminder.
Northern pike and nongame fish are legal statewide, while walleyes can be speared at only Stump Lake and the Devils Lake complex south of U.S. Highway 2 and the Missouri River System — including lakes Oahe and Sakakawea and the Missouri River — up to the first vehicular bridge.
Spearers and anglers are reminded that materials used to mark holes must be in possession as soon as a hole greater than 10 inches in diameter is made in the ice.
All waters open to hook-and-line fishing are open to darkhouse spearing except:
* East Park Lake, West Park Lake, Lake Audubon — McLean County.
* Heckers Lake — Sheridan County.
* Lake Ashtabula — Barnes and Griggs counties.
* Larimore Dam — Grand Forks County.
* McClusky Canal.
* New Johns Lake — Burleigh County.
* Red Willow Lake — Griggs County.
* Whitman Dam — Nelson County.
* Wood Lake — Benson County.
For more information, check out the
2022-24 North Dakota Fishing Guide. — Herald staff report
BISMARCK — Any fish house left unoccupied on North Dakota waters must be made of materials that allow it to float, according to the Game and Fish Department. In addition, fish houses do not require a license.
Other fish house regulations include:
* Occupied structures do not require identification. However, any unoccupied fish house must have an equipment registration number issued by the North Dakota Game and Fish Department, or the owner's name, and either an address or telephone number, displayed on its outside in readily distinguishable characters at least 3 inches high.
* Fish houses may not be placed closer than 50 feet in any direction to another house without consent of the occupant of the other fish house.
* All unoccupied fish houses must be removed from all waters after midnight, March 15.
Anglers should refer to the
North Dakota 2022-24 Fishing
Guide for other winter fishing regulations. — Herald staff report
