The long-lasting snowpack made it very difficult for our feathered friends. The 12-inches or more of snow covered all the little remaining seed bearing areas, leaving most of the wintering birds without forage areas.

My bird feeding station reflected the urgency of the birds’ hunger. The feeding station was swarmed with hordes of birds, sometimes with well over 100 or more birds in the feeder area. I believe the only birds with an adequate supply of forage were woodpeckers. Most of the dead and rotting timber was above the snow line and held the woodpeckers prime forage grubs.

The crowd of birds at the feeder was going through two gallons of sunflower seeds in less than 12 hours. Any crumbs or sunflower seeds falling to the ground were quickly scarfed up by Cardinals, Blue Jays, Dark-Eyed Juncos and other ground feeding species. It was a feathered madhouse!

Thankfully, the snow cover is rapidly abating and bare ground is once again visible and providing forage areas. It looks like a two-gallon filling of the sunflower feeder is now going to last maybe three days.

 

Looking for a few good men and women

The Indiana Department of Natural Resources Division of Law Enforcement is looking for highly motivated, outdoor-centered individuals to fill Indiana Conservation Officer (ICO) positions across the state.

Anyone interested should first read “Become a Conservation Officer” at on.IN.gov/ico-hiring and complete the pre-screening test under the “Apply” link. Successful completion of the pre-screening test will automatically enter you into the hiring process. You will then be notified of the next process phase as it becomes available.

To be qualified to pass the pre-screening test, you must be a United States citizen and be 21 years old by Oct. 30. You also must be able to pass the new Physical Agility Test, which is the new fitness standard for all Law Enforcement in the state starting Aug. 1. The website listed above also contains a video demonstrating the Physical Agility Test, course diagram and testing protocols.

Conservation officers comprise Indiana’s oldest state law enforcement agency. ICOs are fully recognized Indiana police officers who enforce and uphold all DNR rules and regulations as well as all other Indiana state laws. ICOs spend most of their time on the job enforcing fishing and hunting regulations, conducting marine boat patrols on Indiana’s waterways, and patrolling DNR properties to keep them safe and family friendly.

In addition to traditional law enforcement work, ICOs also engage in specialty areas, including scuba, K-9, search and rescue and swift water rescue.

The Law Enforcement Division is always looking for good people to join “Indiana’s Thin Green Line” to protect, serve and enforce Indiana’s natural resource laws.

Tree Stewards workshops

The Indiana DNR Community and Urban Forestry program staff is hosting Tree Stewards workshops on the following dates and locations for spring 2026:

March 30 and 31: New Albany

April 9 and 10: South Bend

We hope to have a Central Indiana Tree Stewards in the fall.

The mission of the Tree Stewards program is to:

- Educate participants on proper tree care, biology, and urban forestry practices

- Empower participants to advocate for community and urban forestry in their neighborhood, community, and state, and

- Connect participants to local volunteer opportunities.

Tree Stewards workshops are offered periodically throughout the state to teach the basics of urban tree care and advocacy. After attending the workshop, attendees are asked to put their knowledge into practice by volunteering 15 hours of service in their local community.

To learn more about our Tree Stewards program, please see the Tree Steward Curriculum at: https://www.in.gov/dnr/forestry/files/fo-TScurriculumforweb.pdf.

  

‘till next time, 

Jack

Readers can contact the author by writing to this publication or e-mail Jack at jackspaulding1971@outlook.com

Spaulding’s books, “The Best Of Spaulding Outdoors” and “The Coon Hunter And The Kid,” are available from Amazon.com as a paperback or Kindle download.