Best of times for outdoor enthusiasts

Skiers, birdwatchers, hunters and anglers are all flying high this week.

“Skiers who resisted the urge to put their boards in storage during that brief March burst of T-shirt weather are enjoying some of the best powder conditions of the year – with little competition for virgin runs.

“Birdwatchers are twittering over daily reports of spring migrants, including tundra swans that are white-washing the temporary wetlands in Lincoln, Whitman and Spokane counties, and especially the Colville Valley near Chewelah and the Calispell Lake area of Pend Oreille County.

“Hunters are getting pumped for various wild turkey seasons that open over the next three weeks in Idaho and Washington as gobblers are strutting and putting on a show wherever they can find an audience.

“Anglers have been enjoying increased hatch activity on the region’s rivers, and a new group of Washington lakes opens to fishing on Tuesday just as many of the March 1 openers are barely warming up.

Read on.

Time to make tracks: I had to pinch myself last Saturday morning at Mount Spokane’s cross-country area, where the temperature was 17 degrees at 7 a.m. and the area was smothered in a fresh 10-inch blanket of light powder snow. Conditions may be equally good this week for skiers of all persuasions.

If you have an urge to ride a bike or pick up a lawn rake, ask somebody to slap your face. Most of the ski resorts are offering special attractions and there’s never been less competition for the good snow.

Mount Spokane downhill area has announced it will close after skiing on Sunday, while other resorts plan to stay open longer. Monday is the last day for grooming the Mount Spokane cross-country trails, although the local nordic club volunteers may extend the grooming with a snowmobile.

Nordic skiers will find groomed tracks at 49 Degrees North at least through April 6.

Tireless birdwatchers: Buoyed by the arrival of spring migrants, area birdwatchers and regional government and tourism groups met Tuesday at the Fish and Wildlife Department offices in Spokane Valley to peg the region’s best bird-watching sites for an Eastern Washington birding trail map set to be published in 2009.

For info on that process, e-mail Christi Norman, Washington Audubon birding trail coordinator, cnorman@audubon.org.

The annual Othello Sandhill Crane Festival is this weekend and many of the various birdwatching tours still have openings. Call (866) 726-3445 or go to www.othellosandhillcrane festival.org.

Last week, Stephen Lindsay reported seeing a large flock of pine siskins and Cassin’s finches at his feeders in Coeur d’Alene – the first of either species he’s seen there in years.

However, another sighting wasn’t so reliable. Local birders found a vulnerable spot in their cyber networking recently when somebody used their e-mail group to report a red-bellied woodpecker. Being a non-migratory Eastern species, this indeed would be a rare find in the Spokane area.

The person who reported the attraction apparently was entertained by birders flocking to his yard area to search for the bird. Now that the hoaxer has been exposed, let’s just say he’s on their life list.

Hunting we will go: Wild turkeys apparently weathered the rugged winter much better than deer in Northeastern Washington. While deer population indicators are down, spring turkey surveys are roughly the same as they were going into the winter, said Steve Zender, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife area biologist in Chewelah.

With gobblers fully lit up for the mating season, kids get the first shots in youth seasons that open April 5 in Washington and April 12 in Idaho.

Roads to many favorite turkey areas are still plugged with snow drifts. Forest Service officials say many roads and trails are still soft and vulnerable to damage by motor vehicles.

If you’ve never walked a mile to a hunting area, this may be the season to experience something new and wonderful.

Fishy waters: Dry Falls Lake south of Coulee City is among the most anticipated of the Columbia Basin’s quality trout waters that open Tuesday. The lake’s fishery apparently has rebounded and Jeff Korth, Washington Fish and Wildlife Department biologist, said fishing “should be very good for yearling rainbow at 14 inches and about 20 percent carryovers from 16 to 24 inches – just like the good ol’ days.”

The selective fishery also has brown and tiger trout.

Friday will be an epic day on the Clark Fork River, as crews are scheduled to breach the Milltown Dam, allowing the river to flow freely through the dam site for the first time in a century. The off-color water will reach the St. Regis area roughly 36 hours later and keep the river off-color for about a week, experts say.

After that, the way is clear to a new fishing future for trout and trout anglers.