News

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…

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…

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…

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…

The first teal flight for fall 2015 is in the books, and so we begin our 67th year of waterfowl surveys on the Illinois and Mississippi rivers. Frank Bellrose started flying the waterfowl survey back in 1948 when pilots, aircraft, and fuel became available after WWII. Since 1948, we have only missed one fall of data collection. The 2001 survey was not flown due to funding issues and pilot availability. This aerial inventory has a longer history than even the aerial breeding waterfowl population survey of the prairies which originated in 1955. We are proud of this accomplishment and usually note that our long-term database has only had 4 biologist observers over the years. I give kudos to my predecessors Frank Bellrose, Tud Crompton, and Michelle Horath as this fall marks my 11th year in the airplane.

Duck numbers this week for the Illinois River were comparable to the weekly 10-yr average and totaled 31,900 total ducks. Blue-winged and American green-winged teal abundance (23,895) was 7.2% above the 10-yr average (21,975). Total ducks on the Mississippi River were well above the 10-yr average; however, early season duck abundance (8,055 ducks) along the Mississippi River is typically lower than the Illinois River. Teal comprised 92% of the ducks observed this week on the Mississippi River. Other early season migrants noted along both rivers included northern shoveler and northern pintail. The weather forecast from North Dakota predicts above normal temperatures for the first week of September so I doubt we get a wave of migrating teal out of the prairies anytime soon.

My early September estimate of wetland habitat conditions for waterfowl this fall ranked well below average for both the Illinois and Mississippi rivers. It was a wet June-July and consequently our rivers were elevated for most of the growing season. The last rise in water levels in late August destroyed any chance for waterfowl foods in the unprotected wetlands of the Illinois Valley. Most of the refuges and duck clubs along the Mississippi River had below average moist-soil plant growth as well. Some notable exceptions include Ted Shanks, Delair, Keithsburg, and Port Louisa refuges. Along the Illinois River; Hennepin & Hopper lakes, Banner Marsh, and Emiquon were the only places with significant amounts of duck food.

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

Greater white-fronted geese, commonly known as speckle bellies, have finally arrived in decent numbers along the Illinois River. We witnessed several groups of “specks” between Pekin and Beardstown, IL this week. In contrast, duck numbers along the Illinois and Mississippi rivers continued to decline. Total ducks (132,360) were 20% below normal along the Illinois River, yet mallard concentrations were holding at some refuges (www.bellrose.org). Mallards were still plentiful (254,820; 94.6% above average) on the lower Mississippi River between Grafton and Quincy, IL; however, mallard numbers were down 26% from the previous week. Canvasbacks were holding steady along Pool 19 between Nauvoo, IL and Fort Madison, IA.

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

Once again ice was a critical factor during the waterfowl survey of the Illinois and Mississippi rivers. Total ducks (154,355) were 36% below normal along the Illinois River. Although mallards (144,050) were lingering at a few Illinois River refuges, their numbers remained 18% below the 10-yr average (www.bellrose.org). Ice was more prevalent from the preceding week along the Mississippi River, yet mallards (359,710) remained 48% above average for this time of year. Pool 19 of the Mississippi River was more than 70% frozen during the survey, and canvasback numbers declined about 50% from the previous week. Despite the ice, duck abundance along the Mississippi River remains 21% above average for this time of year.

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

We flew the waterfowl survey of the Illinois and Mississippi rivers on November 25th. Many of the wetlands along both rivers thawed with the warm rains. Despite open water, duck abundance for many species were well below their 10-yr averages (www.bellrose.org). On the Illinois River, we were basically down to mallards which represented 91% of the ducks observed, and total duck abundance was 32% below the 10-yr average. Mallards are able to withstand the colder temperatures and ice by field feeding on waste grains (i.e., corn). Other dabbling ducks are not as likely to field feed and generally head to warmer regions when our wetlands freeze. Mallards were also very abundant along the Mississippi River as they were nearly 50% above average. Diving ducks were still observed in large numbers along Pool 19 where we witnessed a 4-mile long raft below Nauvoo, IL. This huge raft was comprised primarily of canvasbacks which totaled nearly 177,000 birds. Canvasback numbers were 78% above average for this time of year. I am sure this raft is impressive as you drive along IL Route 96 from Hamilton to Nauvoo, IL.

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

We flew the waterfowl survey of the Illinois and Mississippi rivers on November 20th , and as expected with the arctic plunge, most (91%) of the refuges and survey locations were more than 90% ice-covered. In fact ice conditions along the Illinois River valley (IRV) resembled what is normally seen in late December. My colleague and former aerial survey observer, Michelle Horath, informed me that she started recording ice conditions during the waterfowl survey back in fall 2002. This year is the earliest we have been over 90% ice since monitoring began 13 years ago. Michelle also ran some numbers this week and determined that the peak number of mallards in the IRV over that last 10 years has averaged November 27th . Mallard numbers this week were slightly higher than last week; however, my feeling is that we may be on the backside of the duck abundance curve this fall. Only time will tell. On a brighter note, mallard numbers along the Mississippi River were holding steady, and total duck abundance (497,660) was 43% above the 10-yr average (www.bellrose.org). Diving duck hunters along the Mississippi River should be happy as I estimated over 123,000 canvasbacks this week from Keokuk, IA to Dallas City, IL.

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

We have had several movements of ducks into and out of the Illinois River valley (IRV) since my last blog on November 5th. On the evening of November 6th, we lost those spectacular numbers of ducks from the IRV; however, it was evident from hunting reports that we had new ducks on Saturday, November 8th . Waterfowling was especially good on Veteran’s Day as migrating mallards arrived along the Illinois and Mississippi rivers. Nevertheless, weather radar noted a big emigration of ducks at sunset on the 11th . Duck abundance in the IRV was noticeably lower on Wednesday’s (November 12th) waterfowl survey, and duck numbers in the IRV were down 54% from the previous week and 11% below the 10-yr average for the second week of November (www.bellrose.org). This same trend was not evident along the Mississippi River as duck abundance on many of the refuges skyrocketed; namely Dardenne, Cannon, and Shanks refuges. Duck numbers along the Mississippi increased 29% from the previous week and were 74% above the 10-yr average.

Temperatures have plummeted with the arrival of the polar vortex and our lakes and marshes are freezing fast. Many hunters along the Illinois and Mississippi rivers have started downsizing their decoy spreads and some have pulled their decoys and blinds completely. Let’s hope we thaw out sooner than later and before the mallards head south.

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