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The American Bald Eagle of the Upper Delaware will be the subject of a 30-minute wildlife documentary produced by Blue Ridge Communications. "The American Bald Eagle: Heritage on the Wing" will premier at 12:00 noon on May 1 on Blue Ridge Cable TV-13.
The show was filmed on location in various parts of the Upper Delaware Valley including the Upper Delaware River, the Lackawaxen River and the Rio Dam. TV-13 camera crews spent the winter recording eagles throughout the watershed.
"Catching something as elusive as eagles on tape is not easy," said videographer Steve Tanczyn. "You have to wait sometimes for hours for one to appear, then hope you can move quickly enough to get it on tape."
The film will be narrated by Paul Kargo, who is noted for his award winning 1997 documentary entitled "The Pennsylvania Black Bear." "The challenge with a project like this is making it educational and entertaining at the same time," said Kargo. "If it’s entertaining, people will watch, and if they watch, they’ll learn."
Producer Rob Lasky said, "We did our best to use as many local people and locations as possible." The documentary will feature interviews with Bill and Stephanie Streeter of the Delaware Valley Raptor Center and Lori McKean of the Eagle Institute and can be seen on TV-13 at various times throughout the month of May. Check your local listings for dates and times.
Upper Delaware Field Notes
• Joe Zenes of Pocono Joe’s Guide Service reports catching buck shad in the area of Milford as early as April 6. According to Joe, low water temps are keeping the shad down and off the feed bag — but they are here.
So what are you waiting for? Fish low and slow with small darts as water temperatures now begin to rise.
• "It’s a great time to be a turkey hunter," said Pennsylvania Game Commission (PGC) biologist Bill Drake. "Things won’t get much better than they are now for turkey hunters," Drake said. "Winter mortality was low and acorns from last fall can still be found on the forest floor." This translates into easy pickens for turkeys, healthy birds, and, ultimately, more opportunities for spring gobbler hunters. Keystone State spring gobbler hunters are expected to take in excess of 33,000 bearded birds this season, which will open on Saturday, May 1.
• After a very welcomed early opener last season, PGC commissioners have now taken action to delay the start of pheasant and cottontail rabbit season this season. Commissioners will now open the season two weeks later (October 30). The only reason that they give for this change is that it’s "a date more in line with tradition." Friends, that is no good reason at all.
"Talking the Wild" suggests that the good commissioners may want to use better criteria when making such changes in the future — not for no good reason. I can guarantee that there are many houndsmen out there who reveled in those two early weeks, and game managers have already said that the added days had no added impact to the resource. In all their wisdom, the PGC commissioners are now penalizing certain small gamers who measure their tradition by days afield and not dates on a calendar.
This untimely decision denies a small, specialized, and highly respected section of the outdoor community, namely houndsmen, with needed additional hunting opportunity. This comes after the added days afield last season enjoyed much success. Next time, commissioners, please factor in a couple of things you may have missed, namely hunters and their resource, and perhaps how you can make things better — not worse.
Until next time, be safe and good luck!