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Outdoors

Penn State Extension to hold ‘Agronomy Scout School’ in person and online

UNIVERSITY PARK — Penn State Extension will hold an in-person workshop, “Agronomy Scout School,” aimed at providing crop scouts with an overview of the fundamentals necessary for scouting in corn, soybeans, forages and small grains. An online course also is available. The workshop will take place from 7:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. April 5, at the Agricultural Sciences and Industries Building at 160 Curtin Road on Penn State’s University Park campus. This event is designed for entry-level scouts who will work for crop consultants, industry agronomists, and agricultural service ...

In the Parks

Project WET Educators Workshop WATERVILLE — On Saturday, April 12, from 8:45 a.m.–2:45 p.m., there will be a “Project WET” Educator Workshop at Little Pine State Park. Project WET is a nationally used curriculum supplement intended for use by educators teaching at kindergarten through 12th grade level. The activities in each module use a hands-on approach to reinforce the theme. Each activity is organized the same and contains a summary, objectives, materials needed, making connections and background information. This is followed by step-by-step directions on how to do the ...

Speeding up the bird ‘learning curve’

How many birds can you name? Many people can name only a few — even people who have bird feeders. Today’s technology, however, can greatly accelerate our learning curve. Perhaps the most accessible resource is the free “Merlin” app from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, which is close by in Ithaca, N.Y. This app is crazy easy to use. Download the app onto your phone, press the Merlin icon and then press the green “sound” icon to record the bird call or song that you are hearing. Presto: Merlin identifies the bird for you. You can also take a picture of the bird (press ...

Midwest winters are changing. So is the ancient sport of falconry

GREENLEAF, Wis. (AP) — Stephanie Stevens has a good reason to love the bone-numbing cold of a Wisconsin winter. Every weekend, she loads up her minivan with a large green box and drives out to rural areas, usually the edges of friends’ farm fields. After she slips on a thick leather ...