Mark Blazis: Cool, damp spring should pay off later

All the unusual rain and cool temperatures that have enveloped the region for the last month will have a definite impact on Massachusetts' wildlife and outdoors later this spring — and it could be good.

Trout streams, that not long ago were running dry, are full. Native brook trout, that had been decimated by previous droughts, are returning to hospitable habitat. Fly-fishing will surely extend further into the season, as will the shad run.

Local mushroomers should be ecstatic, too, especially if you have a secret, early-season, basic-soil morel hot spot. But we won’t reap many significant edible benefits until summer.

With sufficient humidity, we could also have enough beneficial fungus production to finally put an end to the gypsy moth scourge that has consecutively ravaged our oak trees. Forest gatherers who know where to find the uncommon ostrich fern are currently reaping a bounty of fiddleheads. Oakham botanist Tom Rawinski spent the weekend pickling his surplus. But the impact from all this rain could prove detrimental, too.

If incessant rains continue, nesting for several key bird species could prove a great challenge. Rough grouse, woodcock, and turkey broods could take a big hit, along with bluebirds and tree swallows. The rains shut down the bird-banding research operations this past weekend at the Auburn Sportsman’s Club. There is, however, considerable excitement and reason to be positive right now.

Striped bass have arrived off state shores. Schoolies entered the west end of the Cape Cod Canal last week, with good action near the Massachusetts Maritime Academy, and the Weweantic and Agawam rivers. Fish up to roughly 18-inches rounded Falmouth, Cotuit and Popponesset. Stripers in the 30-inch class, though, are now still few and south of us off Connecticut and Rhode Island. The Thames River is expected to shine this week.

Squid are hitting off the Cape, especially from Falmouth to Hyannis. This is a brief phenomenon, so anglers wanting buckets of calamari should get out this week. Flounder fishermen around Boston Harbor, on the other hand, need to wait a bit until water temperatures get over 50-degrees. Those delicious flat fish are still mostly in warmer, deeper water.

Herring (alewives) have returned. As of last week, according to diadromous fish biologist Ben Gahagen, electronic counts had revealed over 250,000 in the Monument River of Bournedale and over 800,000 in the Herring River of Harwich. Both waters are unsung state treasures. Unfortunately, blueback herring numbers continue to be frighteningly low. Herring in the Canal are reportedly being hammered by concentrations of cormorants and seals.

Shad on the Merrimack have been hitting up as far as Rock Village, and on the Connecticut River, the fish lift at Hadley Falls will open May 8. Over on the Vineyard, schoolie stripers are hitting off the west coast, while mackerel were reported off Menemsha.

Down in Connecticut, where the fluke season opened May 4, while the short blackfish season ended April 30. But the season for them is open in both in Massachusetts and Rhode Island. Buzzards Bay has been most productive. The Connecticut River has been running high and dirty.

Scup fishermen are scoring in New York waters now. With all too frequent high winds, boats have seldom been able to get out in the Gulf of Maine, but when they have, haddock, cusk, and pollock have greeted them. But the haddock are still in deep water, not yet moving on to Stellwagen Bank, where they’re expected to soon provide a bountiful catch. Cod, of course, are protected, so recreational fishermen are obliged to release all they catch. Meanwhile, bluefin tuna and bluefish are still down on the Delaware and New Jersey coasts.

On the Oswego River and Salmon River in New York, steelhead have been hitting very well, and out on Lake Ontario, brown trout are providing great action.

Trout stocking

Central District trout waters stocked this week included Ashburnham’s Phillips Brook and Whitman River; Barre’s Ware River; Brookfield’s South Pond; Charlton’s Little River and Snow Pond; Fitchburg’s Fallulah Brook; Hardwick’s Ware River; Holden’s Quinapoxet River; Hubbardston’s Comet Pond; Northboro’s Assabet River; Oxford‘s Carbuncle Pond and Little River; Princeton’s Stillwater River; Royalston’s Lawrence Brook and Scott Brook; Sterling’s Stillwater River; Spencer’s Browning Pond; Ware’s Ware River; Westminster‘s Phillips Brook and Wyman Pond Brook; Winchendon’s Priest Brook and Tarbell Brook; and Worcester’s Lake Quinsigamond.

For the birds

Despite all the wind and rain, bird migration has been frenetic. Entering the region from as far away as the Andes and the Amazon are yellow, black-and-white, pine, palm, Nashville, Blackburnian, chestnut-sided, black-throated green, and parula warblers; ovenbirds, a hooded warbler (at Worcester's Broad Meadow Brook Sanctuary), scarlet tanagers, warbling, yellow-throated, and blue-headed vireos, and rose-breasted grosbeaks.

T&G reader Susan Watson of Spencer reported hummingbirds at her nectar feeders this past week. Despite all the rain, they arrived, as usual, right on time, migrating all the way from Mexico.

On May 3, local birders Joe Bourget, Mark Lynch and Sheila Carroll reported an epic fallout of 465 loons on Wachusett Reservoir. The temporary, astounding phenomenon was somewhat repeated with 400 still present last Saturday. It is truly amazing that so many loons stopped at the reservoir on their way to inland breeding waters farther north. The resident loons must have been shocked.

Moose Xing

Be careful in the north country. Vermont wildlife biologists are advising drivers that moose are more likely to be crossing roadways at this time of year, especially after dark or early in the morning as they move from wintering areas to spring feeding locations. More moose are hit by motorists in the spring than at any other time of the year. The second peak of activity occurs in September and October, the breeding season for moose. Motorists hit 61 moose on Vermont highways during 2018.

Lobster fishing delayed

Lobstermen, both commercial and recreational, will need to forego setting their pots until May 9 in Cape Cod Bay. Fifty-seven highly endangered and very vulnerable right whales have been feeding in the area. Too many of them have been fatally entangled in fixed fishing gear. More than 50 percent of their population, which numbers less than 500 annually is observed in our waters during late winter and early spring.

Wildflowers blooming

Those who carefully observe our forests before its leaves fully break out and shadow the forest floor will witness our spectacular, early-spring wildflower show. If you wait too long, as most people do, you’ll miss the likes of star flower, bloodroot, wood anemone, dwarf ginseng, rue anemone, trailing arbutus.

Oh, deer!

Does are heavy with fawns now and should give birth within the next few weeks. Remember to leave alone and untouched any fawns you stumble upon. Does typically nurse them for the first couple weeks only briefly twice a twice a day, confidently leaving them well-camouflaged, motionless, invisible, and scentless to predators.

Too many people each year unknowingly think the fawns are orphaned and fatally remove them from their natural element. This next month is a good time, too, to keep our dogs, which might disturb turkey, grouse, and woodcock nests and young, out of the woods.

—Contact Mark Blazis at markblazis@charter.net.

Calendar

Thursday — MassWildlife public listening session on coyote management, hunting, and hunting contests. 6-8 pm, Mohawk Trail Regional High School, 26, Ashfield Rd., Shelburne Falls.

Saturday — Westfield River Fish Ladder Open House, 10 a.m.- 3 p.m., West Springfield. Info: www.westfieldriver.org/events.html#fishladder

Saturday — Westboro Civic Club Family Fishing Festival, 9 a.m.-1 p.m., Westboro. Info: Gerry Knall, dacoach50@verizon.net.