As the nights grow cold and dusk begins its slow creep toward the mid-afternoon hours, bird hunters are cleaning their rifles and checking out the new equipment in anticipation of fall. When the first V-trail of Canada geese sprawls across the sky, they’ll be ready.

The Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, too, is planning. This week, the commissioner released draft dates for the 2002 migratory bird hunting seasons. The schedule is nearly identical to last year, said wildlife biologist Mark Stadler.

“Here in the flyway, we continue to enjoy a healthy waterfowl population,” he said.

The department will be reducing the bag limit on Sora rail and Virginia rail, however. Rail are small birds that thrive in freshwater marshes. The commercial development of wetlands has prompted population declines nationwide. Maine’s previous limit was an “exorbitant” 25 birds, so biologists have proposed a new daily bag limit of 10, Stadler said.

For similar reasons, the hunting season will be closed for gallinules, also called common moorhens. The bird is found only in five Maine locations, so few hunters will likely be affected by the change, Stadler said.

Seasons vary by zone. Maine has two zones, and is divided into north and south by a line jutting southwest across the state through Baileyville, Bangor, Augusta and Auburn. The proposed 2002 seasons are as follows:

. Black Ducks: Oct. 5-Dec. 9 (north), Oct. 5-19 and Nov. 4-Dec. 23 (south)

. Ducks, Mergansers and American coots: Oct. 1-Dec. 9 (north), Oct. 1-19 and Nov. 4- Dec. 23.

. The season remains closed for Harlequin ducks.

. Sea Ducks: Oct. 1-Jan. 20

. Geese: Oct. 1-Nov. 15 (north), Oct. 1-19 and Nov. 19-Dec. 14 (south)

. Canada Geese: Sept. 3-25

. Snow Geese: Oct. 1-Jan. 31

. Brant: Oct. 1-Nov. 27

. Woodcock: Oct. 1-30

A youth waterfowl hunt day is scheduled for Sept. 21.

For specific bag limits, which are unchanged from last year, check out the proposed rule online at http://www.state.me.us/ifw/hunttrap/h-migbir.htm or request a copy by calling the department at 287-8000.

Midsummer Night’s Dream

A moonlight canoe tour hosted by local Audubon Society volunteers will showcase the sights and sounds of Maine’s nocturnal species, Wednesday, Aug. 21.

Participants will depart from the Fields Pond Nature Center in Holden at 7 p.m., led by naturalist Clay Hardy and other members of the Penobscot Valley Audubon Chapter.

Space is limited, and pre-registration is recommended. The cost is $5 per person, and canoes are available for rent at an additional $10.

For more information, contact the nature center at 989-2591.

Bass boom

More than 50 bass fishing clubs are lobbying for a change in state regulations so they can hold more tournaments during the busy summer season.

John Trask of the Maine B.A.S.S. Federation said recently that existing limits on the number of tournaments are harming charitable organizations that depend on fishing tournaments for fund raising.

Trask has proposed a new system that would increase the number of tournament permits issued by the state, by differentiating between private club tournaments that might only include five or six boats, and larger state or national open tournament events.

Trask proposes that each category be granted a certain number of tournament days on a given lake, rather than sharing the limited time.

Bass groups also hope to achieve permission to hold multi-day tournaments at any time during the fishing season, and on smaller bodies of water, provided the anglers do not exceed a limit of one boat per 35 acres of lake.

The DIF&W has agreed to consider the proposal and will discuss its details at a future meeting.

To submit items for publication in the outdoor notebook, contact Misty Edgecomb at medgecomb@bangordailynews.net or P.O. Box 1329, Bangor, Maine 04401-1329.