Outdoors

Pickles Pub, located across the street from Oriole Park at Camden Yards, has long been synonymous with opening day. Thousands of orange-drenched fans make it their first stop (usually of many) on one of Baltimore's most lively days. But at 10 a.m. on April 5, hours before the Orioles host the Minnesota Twins for the first home series of the season, the Deck at Camden Yards - a new, outdoor beer garden at the Hampton Inn -  will open next to Pickles. Deck partner Fritz Brogan says the latest addition to Washington Boulevard will open for Orioles home games, Ravens home games and special events such as the Grand Prix.

Indoor archery Monday, Thursday: Vingt Neuf Bowmen, 8735 Honeygo Blvd., Perry Hall, 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. $5 registration. Shoot 20 yards inside Maryland State Game and Fish Protective Association hall. No crossbows. Information: Call Bob at 410-746-3424. Upper Bay fishing Monday, March 25: Capt. Bob Krausman will speak about fishing the Upper Chesapeake Bay at the monthly meeting of the Perry Hall chapter of the Maryland Saltwater Sportfishing Association. The event will start at 7:30 p.m. at Gunpowder VFW Post 10067, 6309 Ebenezer Road.

The first step to being successful at fly fishing is tying a fly creatively enough to make it seem real to the fish you're trying to catch. Considered by many to be something of an art form, tying flies is an acquired skill. With hopes of learning how to tie their flies or how to get better at it, 400 to 500 anglers from Maryland and neighboring states are expected to attend the 11th annual Tiefest, which is presented by the Kent Narrows chapter of Coastal Conservation Association Maryland.

Sixth-graders from West Middle School in Carroll County scoured the Bear Branch stream one recent morning in search of aquatic life in the dead of winter. Nathan Grella said the contents of his bucket did not appear promising. "We just got leaves and rocks," said the 12-year-old, one of 57 youngsters spending the week at Outdoor School at Hashawha Environmental Center in Westminster. Closer inspection, however, showed the leaves and rocks were indeed harboring life, information the students will use to size up the stream's health.

There is an invasive species in the United States responsible for the deaths of an estimated 14.7 billion birds and mammals each year. If that's not shocking enough, consider this: There's a good chance that one of these invaders is living in your house. Another in a long line of scientific studies documenting the impact of outdoor cats on our natural environment has just been released, bringing national attention again to the issue. This study was published in Nature Communications and authored by scientists from the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.