Want to check in on some of your favorite critters this holiday weekend? The state Department of Environmental Conservation, along with some partner organizations, has put together a Web site dedicated to the state’s Watchable Wildlife.

New York State has long been one of the nation’s premier, year-round destinations for wildlife viewing because of its range of habitats, migration corridors, public lands and public facilities. A national survey estimated that there are nearly four million people that participate in wildlife watching in New York annually, and while participants are increasing their appreciation of nature, they often also contribute to local economies. Watchable Wildlife . . . provides a user-friendly way to look up the best locales and settings to view wildlife – and helps promote eco-tourism opportunities in the state.

It may not be for everybody and it’s certainly not without controversy, but there are some restaurants in Canada that serve seal. From a New York Times story about the culinary offering:

“I could eat a steak of seal,” Mr. Lenglet (one of the chefs) said. “Anyone who likes red meat or game will like it.”

Of course the Yogi Bear jokes/references are too hard to pass up with the news of a black bear swiping a sandwich from a New Jersey homeowner. So, I’ll just leave you with this.

Want to check out canoeing in the Hudson River’s Tivoli Bay, learn something about making maple syrup or how to prepare for hiking in the Adirondacks? Then DEC TV is for you. DEC, of course, stands for the state Department of Environmental Conservation.

DEC TV will feature short clips on outdoor recreation opportunities such as hiking in the Adirondacks, angling for bluefish off Long Island and canoeing the Hudson and Buffalo rivers. It also will provide information on wildlife, plants and important environmental programs, such as tagging moose and Atlantic sturgeon for research purposes, cultivating “urban forests” in cities and protecting the Lake Ontario Eastern Shore Dunes. Many of the videos include educational reminders about environmental stewardship and the importance of safeguarding New York’s resources for future generations.

The majority of the more than 60 DEC TV clips that are immediately available were originally produced as part of ” Empire State Outdoors,” a weekly 30-minute television show produced by the department for a limited-run television broadcast in a number of New York State markets in 2005. The show’s segments have been re-edited into short, three-to-seven-minute clips for online viewing. In the future, DEC plans to add new video content to DEC TV.

If you haven’t heard, a bunch of bottlenose dolphins have been cavorting about Long Island Sound in recent days. My colleague Aman Ali wrote about it today.

Here’s a Newsday story explaining why their appearance and stay bodes well for the Sound’s health.

The bottlenose dolphins that swam into the Long Island Sound while they chased fish are a good sign that the Sound’s waters are clean and well stocked with herring, scientists said Monday.

Here’s a fact sheet on the marine mammals.

The photo comes courtesy of John A. Betzig Jr.

That was the weather at my house Saturday. Cloudy with a chance of raccoons.

I was mowing the meadow that my lawn had become and had stopped to put more gas in the mower. Just as I was about to restart the machine, I heard this crashing noise in the tree branches above me.

I looked up and caught a glimpse of a raccoon plummeting to the ground, where it made a pretty decent thud when it hit. Not sure what was happening, I stepped over toward the house. After about 30 seconds, this small raccoon – possibly born this year – slowly began climbing up the locust tree. It took him at least a couple of minutes to ascend the 60 or so feet he descended in about three seconds.

He hung out in the crotch of the tree for a few hours – see blurry photo – and then disappeared.

Then this is your weekend. Tomorrow and Sunday make up the state Department of Environmental Conservation’s Free Fishing Weekend.

The annual free fishing weekend is the perfect time for residents and visitors to share the sport of fishing and create lasting memories with a friend or family member out fishing for the first time, or to reignite interest among those who may not have taken to the water in recent years. DEC first held the weekend in 1991 to allow all people the opportunity to sample the incredible fishing New York State has to offer.

More mockingbirds means more noise for some, according to this Associated Press story.

Previously on TNOT: The Rich Little of the bird world.

The boys over at Orange County Choppers are trying to go green. I’ll let The Learning Channel explain:

AMERICAN CHOPPER: Chesapeake Energy Bike
Premieres Thursday, June 25 at 9PM (ET/PT)
The guys at Orange County Choppers go green, attempting to build the first clean-burning natural gas powered chopper for Chesapeake Energy Corporation. This project puts their ingenuity and vision to the test—can the OCC team create a bike that’s all chopper but still energy efficient? Over at Paul Jr. Designs, Jr. gets his new company off the ground by landing his first client, Coleman, who hire him to put a new spin on a current product. Meanwhile, back at OCC, Mikey finds himself questioning his relationship with his father and his role at Orange County Choppers.

The TJN photo, by the way, is from 2004 and shows Paul Teutul Sr., OCC’s founder and one of the stars of the television series “American Chopper,” signing the forehead of Nicholas Barrett, 7, of Old Bridge, N.J., at the International Motorcycle Show at the Jacob Javitz Center in Manhattan.

Chesapeake Energy Corporation, according to its Web site, is “the number one independent producer of natural gas in the nation and the most active driller of new wells in the U.S.”

Two bee-related items. First, check out the photo sent in by Daureen Matera of White Plains. She discovered a swarm of what look to be honeybees in her yard.

Well, we were in the middle of running a garage sale-June 6th-when we noticed a constant humming sound-a drone, really. When we looked up we saw thousands of bees hovering above the tree in our front yard.  A few minutes later they seemed to have disappeared, but, when we looked up in the tree we saw what we thought was a good size hive, and thought they had gone inside.  That’s when we called someone to deal with it.  A short while later we saw the bees hovering again, and then fly off.  But, when we looked up expecting to see the hive, we saw absolutely nothing.  When I showed the pest control guy my photos, he said there was no hive, it was a very large swarm of bees, something he’d never seen before.  He said the bees were looking for a location to build a hive, and decided our tree didn’t suit, she wrote in an e-mail.

Then there’s “The Disappearing Bees” Talk scheduled for tomorrow at the Van Cortlandtville Historical Society in Cortlandt. The “disappearing,” of course, refers to Colony Collapse Disorder.

George Kummer, a beekeeper with 33 years of experience in the field, will speak on the topic of “The Disappearing Bees” at a meeting of The Van Cortlandtville Historical Society on Saturday, June 20th, at 2 p.m., at The Little Red Schoolhouse, 297 Locust Avenue, Cortlandt Manor, NY.

A longtime Cortlandt resident and a past president of the Society, Mr. Kummer will explain why the public should be concerned about Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) and the negative impact it has had in many parts of the world.  With the use of video and interesting props, he will illustrate how the disappearing bee population is impacting the commercial end of the honey business and crops in general.  He will describe what beekeepers are doing to keep the bee industry strong and will have major products from bees available at the meeting.

“The Disappearing Bees” event is open free to the public.  The Little Red Schoolhouse is located at the northern end of Locust Avenue, adjacent to Old St. Peter’s Church and cemetery at Oregon Road.  Telephone on day of event is 914-736-7868.