We got up in the air for the waterfowl flight on Friday, September 19, 2025. It was much of the same this week as the Illinois river level continued to drop, and many of the connected backwaters exposed more mudflats. Abundances continue to be lower than long-term averages across both rivers, though the difference is less pronounced in the central Mississippi River valley. I did observe more green-winged teal and northern pintail this week, and it appears that our blue wings are moving out of the region. Blue-winged teal abundance dropped from ~17,000 last week to 5,565 this week in the IRV and from ~5,000 to ~3,000 in the CMRV. As previously mentioned, blue-winged teal (5,565) and total duck (20,275) abundances were below their respective LTAs for the Illinois River this week (-64%, and -47% respectively). Abundance trends were also low along the MS River, at -31% and -20% for blue-winged teal (2,850) and total ducks (7,190), respectively. Consistently low abundances appear to be a trend during the early 2025 migration. We have one more flight before taking a two-week break. Hopefully, that trend changes soon.
