The Eagle Outdoors

Has it really been yet another week? It's said that 'time flies when you're having fun.' If that's the case, I'm having, unbeknownst to me, a hell of a lot of fun out here in the Elochoman Valley. It's a busy time of year, especially when we have blue skies and 62 degrees. There's grass to be mown and trees to be pruned. It's certainly not too early to be planting tiny tomato seeds and potatoes. The steelheaders are still working the Elochoman, and the marina is starting, albeit slowly, to get a little busier now that spring chinook are on the menu.

Speaking of spring: cleaning this time of year doesn't apply just to humans. Birds and the houses in which they raise their little ones can benefit from a good cleaning. Truthfully, the best time to clean your birdhouses is in the late summer or early fall after the last broods of the year have fledged and are on their own; however, if you're careful and observant, now's not too late.

First, make certain the house isn't occupied or in the process of being occupied. Watch for any activity around the house and, if there's none apparent, proceed to the next step. Gain access to the interior of the house by removing the top (preferred) or bottom. Dispose of any old nesting material, and give the inside a thorough scrubbing with a paint scraper or stiff bristle brush. Next, spray the interior with a 10 percent mixture of one part chlorine bleach to nine parts water and allow to dry thoroughly. It is important that you do not use soap to clean the interior, as it can potentially impact the adults' natural oils and waterproofing abilities. Finally, reassemble, ensuring the bottom has adequate drainage. Then grab a lawn chair and binoculars and wait for your new tenants.

A tip of the 'ole fishing cap goes to a local friend, angler, and Vietnam Vet who, I'm assuming, wished to remain anonymous for the literal truckload of older fishing tackle, rods, and reels they passed along to me and the instructions that the items be further passed to up-and-coming anglers in the community. Thank you for the gear, and thank you for your service! All but two of the rods and reels have already found a new home, along with 75 percent of the tackle. Each of the remaining two rods has been mated to a small tacklebox filled with trout gear and are awaiting delivery. I'm still deciding how to distribute the salmon gear and much of the monofilament, but I'm sure there's a budding 'king katcher' out there just chomping at the proverbial bit to get his or her hands on a box of Spin-N-Glos. Thanks again for your contribution to the community. If anyone out there is looking to unburden themselves of fishing tackle, especially lighter gear (e.g. trout, panfish, or northern pikeminnow equipment), I always have young people looking for starter sets.

After two fantastic 'limits for everyone' smelt dipping adventures on the Cowlitz River, the WDFW has determined there aren't sufficient numbers of eulachon in the system to allow for a future dip on Saturday, March 7. The agency does have tentative morning-only seasons scheduled for Wednesday, March 11 and Saturday, March 14, both of which should have a status update posted on the WDFW website by Friday, March 6.

Dippers harvested just shy of 115,000 pounds of smelt from the Cowlitz during the two days the harvest was allowed on Feb. 18 and 21. The only problems during those two days? Greed on the part of (some) recreational anglers, one of whom was ticketed by WDFW officers while in possession of over 250 pounds of smelt. The limit, in case you don't know, is 10 pounds per person. Now, no one reading this is going to do something like that, but come on, folks! All it takes is that one mealy apple.

Each morning after I tend to the girl chickens, I take a few minutes to update myself on the status of our fruit trees. "Good morning, apples," "Howdy, Mr. Pear," and "How are you doing, Ms. Lapine Cherry?" Strange? Perhaps, but it makes me feel better and more connected to my little part of the world here. A couple of days back, while checking out the new plum that is coming right along, I noticed a small tan 'blob' roughly an inch long and half that wide affixed to the woven wire protecting the 5-foot plum. Textured almost, foam-like in appearance, and the shape of half a lemon cut lengthwise and laid cut-side down. Yes, folks; a praying mantis egg case. As a gardener, I love praying mantises. Sure, they're a little frightening in appearance, but boy howdy do they eat lots and lots of bad bugs like caterpillars, crickets, aphids, and flies. I'm eager to have the little mantises around the grounds.

Until next time, get outdoors and enjoy all that Mother Nature and Wahkiakum County have to offer, but do it kindly.