We’re back! We got in the air for the first waterfowl survey of Fall 2026 on Thursday, September 3 and it was a Tale of Two Rivers. On the Illinois river, we’re still reeling from a mid-growing season flood. Though the river has dropped significantly, many backwaters are still holding water and, understandably, many habitat managers are planning on holding onto the water they have. There just isn’t enough time before the end of the growing season to germinate and grow good waterfowl food. Indeed, it looks like it may be a sparse food year in the IRV this fall. As usual, the Mississippi river was more forgiving during the brief, flashy floods, and the habitat along the “old man” looks generally good right now. Some mechanical issues prevented the dewatering of Swan Lake at Two Rivers NWR but, other than that, the table is set for a good food year on the MS. Teal and early waterfowl numbers were significantly below their 10-year averages across both rivers. The lack of photo-period migrators has me a little puzzled… maybe the heat wave was enough to keep many of them north for a little longer than usual. We’ll see how those numbers look next week. Good luck to everyone getting out this weekend. Stay safe and be excellent to one another.
Good luck to everyone getting out this weekend. Stay safe and be excellent to one another. For more information on the survey and this week’s numbers, visit Aerial Inventories.
