December 3rd aerial survey

It’s difficult to photograph the impressive rafts of canvasbacks from the airplane; however, this
photo may give you an idea of what diving ducks look like from air.

We completed the waterfowl survey on Thursday, December 3rd following rain, wind, and snow earlier in the week. The snow and ice recorded during the previous week had melted, and water levels of the Illinois River were exceeding flood stage and inundating many new areas, especially bottomland forests. We found a significant number of the mallards this week in the flooded timber.

Illinois River numbers were 200,710 total ducks which was 13% below the 10-yr average. Mallards (123,970) were 28% below average for this time of year but stable from the previous week. We still had a few other species of ducks hanging around on the Illinois, namely greenwinged teal, gadwall, scaup, ring-necks, and ruddy ducks. Interestingly, I saw my first flights of field feeding ducks this week as I was driving back to the office at sunset following the duck flights. It might be time to hit the corn fields to harvest some of those hungry mallards.

Once again the Mississippi River was full of ducks (649,895); 58% above average for the first week in December. Huge numbers of ducks (145,100) were found at Cannon NWR this week near Annada, MO. But, even more impressive were the diving ducks along Pool 19 between Hamilton, IL and Fort Madison, IA. We estimated 120,000 canvasbacks and nearly 36,000 bluebills (lesser scaup) in two large rafts that encompassed a 15-mile stretch of the river. This number of canvasbacks is even more impressive when you consider there were only 760,000 breeding canvasbacks in North America last spring. In other words, relative to the 2015 breeding population, 16% of the canvasbacks in North America were observed in the vicinity of Nauvoo, IL last week. If you are seeking that trophy bull canvasback mount, now is the time to go diver hunting on Pool 19, Mississippi River.

Stay tuned for more updates next week…

November 27th aerial survey

aerial winter scene with ducks on the water

We completed the waterfowl survey on November 24th of Thanksgiving week. There was significant ice on many of the northern locations; however, ice was breaking up with the warmer temperatures later in the week.

Thanksgiving week is typically the “big push,” when mallards arrive in large numbers, and duck hunters get excited. This was exactly what happened on the Mississippi River where total duck abundance (540,060) was 30% above the 10-yr average. Cannon and Dardenne refuges were loaded up with ducks, and most of the other locations along the Mississippi had above average numbers of mallards. Port Louisa had the most ducks I have seen there in my 11 years of flying the waterfowl survey. Additionally, the bluebills have arrived on Pool 19. A substantial raft was observed just below Nauvoo on the Illinois side of the Mississippi River.

The story was very different along the Illinois River. Total duck numbers (176,260) were 28% below average, and mallards were down 36% from where they should be. The only count with fewer ducks this fall was the October 14th survey. Ducks weren’t distributed evenly along the Illinois River either where a third of the birds were observed along a small stretch of the river near Chillicothe. I think we had a movement of birds into the Illinois Valley during the third week of November, but the below average duck food along the river coupled with the frigid temperatures on November 21–22 forced the ducks further south.

A duck hunter can only hope another flight of mallards will arrive from the prairies soon!

November 19th aerial survey

ducks on the water

Wind and weather prevented us from flying the waterfowl survey during the week of November 16th. This was unfortunate because we usually get a big movement of mallards into both the Illinois and Mississippi rivers during mid-November. I think there was a small migration of waterfowl into central Illinois this week based on hunter reports, but we won’t know for sure until I can get in the airplane again.

Speaking of mallards… they are the number one duck in Illinois’ harvest year after year. In falls 2009 and 2010, we placed radio transmitters on 142 drakes and hens near Havana, IL and followed them daily throughout La Grange Pool of the Illinois River. The average daily movement was 2.4 miles/day and did not vary between years or sexes. Radio-marked mallards distributed themselves throughout the study area from Banner Marsh State Fish and Wildlife Area (SFWA) near Glasford, IL, to Sanganois SFWA near Chandlerville, IL; a distance of approximately 43 miles. Keep this in mind when you are looking at the distribution of birds on the waterfowl survey sheets.

Be safe and happy hunting! Stay tuned for more updates next week…

November 9th aerial survey

aerial image with ducks

We flew the waterfowl survey on Monday, November 9th ahead of the windy weather system that blew through later in the week. Duck numbers along the Illinois River were down slightly (6%) from the previous week but were right at the 10-yr average totaling 283,315 ducks. We lost some of those fair weather ducks including northern pintails which dropped nearly 40%, and over 110,000 American coots headed south over the weekend. However, we picked up a few diving ducks, especially ring-necked ducks, from the previous week. Duck abundance (321,140) along the Mississippi River increased about 27% and was right at the 10-yr average. Diving ducks were starting to build on Pool 19 from Keokuk to Fort Madison. And, duck numbers (68,000) more than doubled at the Clarence Cannon National Wildlife Refuge near Annada, MO. For more information on the waterfowl surveys, check out our web page at www.bellrose.org.

Last week’s blog photo got considerable attention, and one duck hunter commented that he liked the aerial perspective of the duck distribution in the photo. My tip for the week is to evaluate your decoy spread. Sometimes ducks distribute themselves evenly in wetlands and around beaver lodges (aka…duck blinds), but in many instances, I observe dabbling ducks concentrating along the perimeter of a wetland. They prefer to feed in the very shallow water along the wetland edge and form dense clusters of birds. The accompanying photo illustrates my point. If you have the resources to “black-stack” your decoys like the mallards, greenwings, and gadwall in the photo, you may just increase the number of birds in your daily bag!

Be safe and happy hunting! Stay tuned for more updates next week…

November 2nd aerial survey

ducks on the water

It appeared as though the weather system that moved through the central United States over Halloween weekend, brought only a few migrant waterfowl. The Mississippi River duck numbers were up 8% and the Illinois River was up 18% from the previous week. We are currently 13% above the 10-yr average along the Mississippi (252,295 ducks); however, the Illinois (302,780 ducks) is running 12% below normal. Hunting reports from last weekend indicated success rates had tailed off at many clubs and managed waterfowl areas along both rivers. We can only hope the cooler temperatures over the 2nd weekend in November will bring some new birds. For more information on the waterfowl surveys check out our web page at www.bellrose.org.

As I was thinking of a blog topic for the week, my mind went to Pintails, Pintails, and Pintails. Northern Pintail numbers have been high for several weeks now. NOPI’s, as they are referred to on the aerial inventory data sheet, were 57–94% above average, and this week’s estimates ranked 9th all-time for the Illinois River and 11th all-time along the Mississippi River since surveys began in 1948. If you haven’t had the opportunity to harvest that prized drake Pintail this year, you better hurry up. I expect Pintail numbers to start falling in the next week or two as the weather turns cooler.

The Northern Pintail is one of the easier ducks to identify from the airplane. Flocks of Pintails tend to orient themselves in a common direction as the airplane approaches. This behavior makes the white chest of a Pintail very visible from the air. My pilot and I refer to them as “headlights” because the white reminds us of a bunch of car lights in the middle of the night.

Be safe and happy hunting! Stay tuned for more updates next week…

October 26th aerial survey

Wood Duck

Duck season began on October 24th for most of the survey sites in the Illinois River valley (IRV), and duck abundance increased 25% on the refuges from the previous week. This is what typically happens after the central zone duck season opens. Case in point, Goose Lake (Woodford County) at Chillicothe held about 20,000 ducks on Thursday prior to duck season. However, on Monday after the duck opener, the same lake held nearly 45,000 birds. This increase represents ducks getting pushed out of the private clubs due to the gunning pressure.

Duck numbers in the IRV were 14% above average for the last week of October and totaled 256,025 ducks. Duck numbers on the Mississippi River were 61% ahead of the 10-yr average and 40% up from the previous week. I expect the duck numbers on the lower Mississippi River in St. Charles County Missouri to hold steady until Missouri’s central zone opens on November 7th . Several of the big refuges and clubs were still pumping water in this region and quality duck habitat was slowly increasing. For more information on the waterfowl surveys check out our web page at www.bellrose.org.

Field reports indicated hunting success was variable for the Illinois’ central zone waterfowl opener. Some hunters along the Illinois River had good hunting on Saturday, especially if there were wood ducks around, but as usual, the numbers tailed off pretty quickly. Rice Lake SFWA had a pretty good opener, but Monday’s harvest was only 25% of what was taken on Saturday. The opening weekend totals at Sanganois SFWA were about 30% below normal and wood duck harvest at the site was less than average which was interesting because wood ducks were plentiful in many harvest reports from the marshes. I heard one club on the Mississippi River near Quincy shot a 12-man limit on opening day, but harvest had slowed down considerably as of Tuesday (October 27th). The Mississippi River Area (MRA) near the confluence of the Illinois and Mississippi rivers on opening day took 1.64 ducks per hunter which was slightly higher than Sanganois SFWA which averaged 1.39 ducks per hunter. Rice Lake SFWA harvested 2.15 ducks per hunter on opening day.

There will be some blustery weather in North Dakota on Wednesday (October 28th) with northwest winds gusting as high as 39 mph. A duck hunter can only hope this weather will drive new migrants our way for the second weekend of the season. Be safe and happy hunting! Stay tuned for more updates next week…

October 22nd aerial survey

The cold weather and north winds that passed through the prairies and Illinois during the weekend of October 9–11 brought some migrant waterfowl. Duck numbers in the Illinois River valley (IRV) jumped to 204,035 birds which was 32% above average for this time of year. The vast majority (77%) of these birds were non-mallard dabbling ducks comprised of pintail, shoveler, gadwall, wigeon, and green-winged teal. However, the ducks were not evenly distributed in the IRV; 43% were found within 9 miles of Havana at the Emiquon complex and Chautauqua NWR. Waterfowl abundance was 70% above average along the Mississippi River and estimated at 166,350 ducks. Like the Illinois, 76% of the total numbers were attributed to those non-mallard dabblers. Interestingly, we observed a record number (28,295) of ruddy ducks this week along the Mississippi. One impressive raft of ruddy ducks was observed between Nauvoo and Hamilton, IL. This weekend (October 24th) marks the duck season opener in the central zone of Illinois. Hopefully, the above average numbers of ducks will lend to some quality recreation for our central zone hunters. Good luck and be safe out there!

Just a reminder—we’ve started our second year of “grid” surveys along the Illinois River so you may see the survey plane two days each week this fall. The Illinois Natural History Survey and Illinois Department of Natural Resources are evaluating this experimental waterfowl “grid” survey (1-mi2 plots) from Hennepin to Meredosia. The new grid survey will allow us to determine the detection probability of observing ducks from the airplane; which in turn will allow us to determine confidence intervals about our estimates of waterfowl in the IRV. We will also be able to generate “thunderstorm” maps from the data yielding a visual perspective of where the ducks are in the Illinois Valley. For this reason, you may see us flying in locations outside the 23 refuges of the traditional waterfowl survey. Please be patient with us as we embark on this new survey design.

Stay tuned for more updates next week…

map of study area

October 14th aerial survey

hunting group

We were able to fly the waterfowl survey on Wednesday for both the Illinois and Mississippi rivers. Many of the refuges and gun clubs were adding water and getting ready for duck season openers. We found waterfowl numbers were pretty normal for mid-October, and duck abundance was 14% above average along the Illinois River with non-mallard dabbling ducks dominating the numbers including: northern pintail, American green-winged teal, northern shoveler, and gadwall. Ruddy ducks have also started to show up in their usual locations. The Mississippi River was slightly (17%) below average; however, a couple key refuges were just starting to move water. Pintails and green-wings were the most abundant ducks along the Mississippi.

New migrants arrived on Thursday morning as confirmed by friends in the field. I heard reports of white-fronted geese on both the Illinois and Mississippi. I expect even more migrants will arrive with our temperatures dipping into the low 30s over the weekend. It’s starting to feel “ducky” out there. To borrow a quote from Scott Schlueter at Anderson Lake SFWA, duck season lasts 2 months of the year—the rest is just filler!

Have you ever wondered how many ducks the average waterfowl hunter harvests in Illinois? According to the Illinois Natural History Survey’s Human Dimensions Research Group, the average duck hunter harvested between 0.6–0.8 ducks/day afield or 7.5–11.0 ducks/season during 2003–2013. This was somewhat lower than the average harvest rate of 1.1 ducks/hunter trip on lands managed by the Illinois Department of Natural Resources in 2012. Waterfowl hunters at the Ted Shanks Conservation Area along the Mississippi River in Missouri took nearly 1.7 ducks/trip in 2014. This rivaled the impressive harvest rate of 2.6 ducks/day at the Emiquon Preserve along the Illinois River near Havana in 2010; however, harvest was much lower at Emiquon during fall 2014 when they took slightly over 1.3 ducks/trip. The famed Otter Slough Conservation Area in southeast Missouri boasted over 2.4 ducks/hunter in 2014. Interestingly, Otter Slough achieved this impressive harvest rate with their intensive moist-soil management program and limited amounts of corn. This year, 2015, only 1% of the site was planted to agricultural crops. Almost every hunter has a few good days duck hunting during fall, but to consistently harvest ducks throughout the season is truly impressive.

Good luck hunting this week and stay tuned for more updates next week…

September 16th aerial survey

habitat

Wind and weather influenced the waterfowl survey this week; nevertheless, we did sneak in the Illinois River flight on Wednesday, September 16th . We weren’t able to get to the Mississippi River due to gusting winds. My tolerance for wind is minimal once it exceeds 20 mph. Those abundant blue-winged teal that dominated the waterfowl numbers on September 9th must have departed central Illinois on Friday evening (September 11th); however, I can’t verify this on weather radar due to a few isolated rain showers that were passing through at sunset. Likewise, hunter reports from the weekend indicated poor success afield. I estimated teal numbers at 30,495 along the Illinois River which was still 30% above the 10-yr average, but nearly 50% lower than the previous week. It looks like we picked up a few American green-winged teal, but lost the fickle blue-wings when temperatures dipped into the low 40’s over the weekend. To the contrary, total duck abundance (55,155) was relatively high this week and was 51% above average for the 3rd week of September. For more information about the waterfowl survey, check out our webpage at www.bellrose.org.

I was glancing through the recent issue of Ducks Unlimited Magazine today and found an article by Wade Bourne on blind concealment. I couldn’t agree more with Mr. Bourne’s comments: “When you think you have enough camo on a blind, add more. You can never be too well hidden from the prying eyes of ducks.” This couldn’t have resonated more with me as I reviewed a few photos from this week’s flight. Hunters tend to think about concealment as they see the decoys and not from a duck’s perspective. Blinds and camouflage should be constructed so that the hunters cannot be seen from above. And, the number one observation I make from the air is a boat stashed 50 yards from a group of hunters. The hunters can’t see the boat nearby, but from a duck’s view, the boat stands out and likely flares birds from the decoys. From the photos, you can see which group of hunters will likely harvest the most birds.

Good luck hunting this last weekend of teal season (September 19–20) and stay tuned for more updates next week…

September 9th aerial survey

We had a major influx of teal into the Illinois and Mississippi rivers this week. The increase was likely due to the weather system that passed through the prairies over Labor Day weekend. This week’s teal total (62,265) along the Illinois River was 143% above the 10-yr average (25,603). Teal abundance along the Mississippi River nearly quadrupled this week and were estimated at 20,455 birds. We are way ahead of normal for the second week of September with duck numbers 125% above average for the Illinois and 258% above average for the Mississippi River. I even saw a few gadwall, American wigeon, and ruddy ducks on Wednesday’s flight. As nightly low temperatures in North Dakota dip into the upper 30’s and low 40’s over the weekend, I am sure we will see even more migrating ducks heading our way.

Ducks undergo multiple feather molts at various times of the year. Ducks even molt their flight feathers after the breeding season which renders them flightless for a few weeks during summer. During this flightless period, a duck’s feathers are very drab and brown in color. In fact, a drake mallard loses that brilliant green head during summer and resembles a female at this time of year. For this reason most of the birds during the September flights appear as “brown ducks” from the airplane. To estimate species abundance in September, I sometimes intentionally flush ducks from the water so I can see their wings and identify them. This photo from Wednesday’s flight shows the wing color and size differences in a few of the species I encounter. You should be able to find blue-winged and American green-winged teal, mallards, northern pintail, northern shoveler, and maybe even an American black duck in the picture. For more information about the waterfowl survey, check out our webpage at www.bellrose.org.

Good luck teal and Canada goose hunting and stay tuned for more updates next week…

ducks