Ornithologist and conservationist David Yeany II will present a program on Maryland’s Marsh Bird Survey April 10 at 6:30 p.m. at the  Seneca Rocks Audubon Society meeting in the Clarion Free Library, 644 Main St., Clarion.

The meeting is free and open to the public.

From a news release: “Atlantic tidal marshes have one of the highest rates of endemic vertebrate species, most of which are birds. In 2012, the Pennsylvania Natural Heritage Program coordinated Maryland’s portion of the Saltmarsh Habitat and Avian Research Program to help determine status and distribution of saltmarsh birds across the northeast.”

Yeany, a Forest County native, is an ornithologist and conservation planning specialist for the PNHP in the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy Pittsburgh office.

Learn about and watch bird banding in action Saturdays from April 27 through May 18 at the Audubon Center & Sanctuary, 1600 Riverside Road, Jamestown, N.Y.

Reservations are not required. The event, from 11 a.m. to 7 a.m. each day, is free to attend, but donations are appreciated.

Ornithologists will capture migrating and resident birds, fit them with identification bands, measure and weigh them, then release them back into the wild.

Dress for the weather and pack bird guides and binoculars if you have them, though they are not necessary.

Presque Isle State Park and S.O.N.S. of Lake Erie will offer a free day of fishing for children April 13 from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the floating platform in the East Basin near Waterworks Pavilion.

Bait and equipment will be provided by the DCNR, S.O.N.S. and BAC Bait & Tackle for the event taking place on the opening day of the statewide trout season

The platform will be available only to children, their non-fishing adult supervisors and individuals with handicaps. Children 16 and older must have a valid fishing license.

Registration is not required. Call the park office at 833-7424 for information.

Pennsylvania’s limit for Lake Erie yellow perch will remain at 30 per day and the creel limit for walleye will still be six per day, the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission said today.

If you ever wanted to learn to fly fish, there’s an opportunity for you this spring in northwestern Pennsylvania.

1. Lake Erie Ultimate Angler’s Trout 101 class is scheduled for April 6 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the shop, 3737 W. 12th St.  The free, beginner-oriented course will cover tackle, flies, basic knots, technique and more. Sign up in advance by e-mailing Sales@ShopUltimateAngler.com or calling (814) 833-4040.

Lake Erie Ultimate Angler also has a Trout 201 course scheduled for May 6. Registration is $100.

2. The Fly Fishing Coach is offering world of fly fishing courses April 6 and May 4 in Warren, nymph fishing strategies April 28 and on-stream fly-fishing strategies May 5 and May 8. Cost is $125 for each session.

To register, call (814) 706-2506 or Allegheny Outfitters at (814) 723-3030.

3. Kinzua Fly Fishing’s two-day session is May 4-5 and its three-day session is May 17-19 at the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford campus. Students must be at least 12 years old; experienced and inexperienced students are invited.

(Full disclosure: My wife and I learned to fly fish from these folks.)

Fly-fishing legend Joe Humphreys is scheduled to instruct on two days of the three-day session, which costs $420 for commuters and $445 for those who elect to stay in campus housing. The two-day seminar runs $285 for commuters and $305 for resident students. Meals are included.

Morning sessions are dedicated to classroom learning and casting, while afternoon are spent on stream, especially West Branch Tunungwant Creek that runs right through campus. Evening elective sessions go as late as midnight and include fishing, knot-tying, fly-tying, leader development, entomology and more. Loaner equipment is available.

For information, visit the school’s website. For a registration form, call Steve Skvarka at (814) 368-5814 or e-mail him at skvarka@penn.com.

4. Neshannock Creek Fly Shop in Volant, Lawrence County, is putting on a female anglers fly fishing school May 4-5. Day One runs from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Day Two from 8 a.m. to noon.

Instruction will include knot tying, leader and tippet selection and all the mechanics of successful fly-fishing, as well as basic entomology.

Cost is $175 per person on a first-come, first-served basis. Contact the fly shop at info@ncflyshop.com or (724) 533-3212 to reserve a spot or for information.

5. Neshannock Creek Fly Shop also is putting on a youth anglers fly fishing school in June. Daytime classes run June 10 thru June 14, and students must provide their own equipment.

Professional instructors will teach students abouut tying knots, wading, hooking and landing fish and more.

Cost is $195. Reservations are open now; contact the fly shop at info@ncflyshop.com or (724) 533-3212 to reserve a spot or for information.

The Pennsylvania Game Commission’s Pymatuning Wildlife Learning Center will open for season April 6.

Hours are 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday through the third week in September. The center is located at 12590 Hartstown Road, Linesville, Crawford County.

The adjacent Linesville State Fish Hatchery, operated by the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission, also opens April 6 with an open house.

The annual open house at the Linesville State Fish Hatchery is scheduled for April 6 from 11 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at 13300 Hartstown Road, Linesville, Crawford County.

Visitors will be able, among other things, to watch the walleye spawning process including fish sorting, and removing and fertilizing eggs; see native fish species in the 10,000-gallon viewing tank; learn how to tell the age of fish; tie knots, flies and cast, rig a rod, and fillet and cook fish; buy a $3 t-shirt and put a fish print on it; buy a Pennsylvania fishing license, posters, patches, and books; practice casting skills in the Kids Casting Area; visit the boating safety tent; and talk to staff from the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission and other partner agencies.

Shuttle service from the parking areas to the Visitor Center will be provided.

To get to the hatchery, turn off of Route 6 at the only light in downtown Linesville and go half a mile to the entrance.

Presentations on diving in Lake Erie, its shipwrecks and the War of 1812 are the highlights of the Great Lakes Seaway Trail Blue Byway Seminar April 13 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Clarion Conference Center and Marina in Dunkirk, N.Y.

The $50 admission includes lunch. Walk-ins, as space allows, are $65 each. Register online or call (315) 646-1000 Ext. 203. Preregistration is requested by April 10.

Freediver Sam Genco will talk about the variety of diving, snorkeling and freediving adventures available on Lake Erie, a central part of the Great Lakes Seaway Trail region along 518 miles of freshwater shoreline in New York and Pennsylvania. He is a U.S. Coast Guard-licensed captain and a former captain with Osprey Charters of Barcelona, N.Y.

Other presenters:

Erie Maritime Museum eucation pograms cordinator Linda Bolla will speak on “The Fabric of Time: Two Iconic Flags from the War of 1812,” and living history programming coordinator and U.S. Brig Niagara volunteer Ed Bolla will talk about the Battle of Lake Erie and the building of Perry’s Fleet at Erie;

Underwater explorer Jim Kennard on his discovery of the HMS Ontario, a 22-gun sloop that sank in Lake Ontario in 1780, and National Weather Service forecaster Robert Hamilton on historic weather conditions that influenced the wreck of the Ontario;

Historical archaeologist Dr. Douglas J. Pippin of the State University of New York at Oswego, with details on ship building at the British-held Fort Haldimand on Carleton Island in upstate New York;

New York Sea Grant Coastal Recreation and Tourism specialist Dave White on tools and apps for boaters, canoeists and kayakers based on the Great Lakes Observing System;

St. Lawrence River charter captain Jeff Garnsey on his grandfather, a rumrunner during Prohibition.

All trails for motorized vehicles in the Allegheny National Forest have been closed as of April 1.

ATV and motorbike trails are scheduled to reopen May 24 and remain open through Sept. 29. Snowmobile trails will remain closed until December.

Allegheny National Forest ATV trail system riders must purchase either a daily pass at a cost of $10 per day, or an annual pass at a cost of $35. Passes are available at the supervisor’s office in North Warren;the  Marienville Ranger District office; the Bradford Ranger District office in Marshburg; the Tionesta Visitor Center; Forest Lodge and Campground in Marienville; the Russell City Store; Brookville Motor Sports, and Leisure Time in Corry

For information, call the supervisor’s office in Warren at (814) 723-5150,  the Marienville Ranger District at (814) 927-6628, or the Bradford Ranger Station at (814) 362-4613.

Volunteer to help the Audubon Center & Sanctuary in Jamestown, N.Y., clean up its grounds April 20 for another season of activities.

Volunteers can choose their work crew activity: to pull non-native plants, plant native seeds and shrubs, spruce up the gardens, pick up trash as part and possibly more.

Work will go on rain or shine, so dress for the weather and pack work gloves if you have them. Lunch will be provided to all volunteers.

Reservations are required by April 17 (call 716-569-2345 after that date).

Registration April 20 runs from 8:30-9 a.m., when work crews will be selected. Work goes from 9:30 a.m. to noon, followed by lunch and prizes.

More than 80 people turned out for the first Volunteer Day in 2012.