We got back up in the air on Thursday, October 24th, for the aerial waterfowl survey of the Illinois and central Mississippi rivers. Unfortunately, fog kept us out of the lower Illinois River, and we finished that up on Friday, October 25th. We don’t like to split days on this survey, but sometimes it becomes necessary. Duck abundance was below the LTA across the survey area, especially along the central MS River. We have had ducks move into the area, though, and that was apparent on the Illinois River this week. I estimated 177,640 ducks in the IRV on Thursday, 12% less than the 10-year average of ~202,000 ducks. The MS River was another story; I observed 75,955 ducks, 45% below the 10-year average (~139,000). Along the IRV, we are at or above the LTA for green-winged teal, northern pintail, American wigeon, blue-winged teal, and gadwall. The deficit below LTA is coming from mallards, northern shoveler, and the early diving ducks along this river. Along the CMRV, every species except blue-winged teal and American wigeon is below LTA this week. Hopefully that will change with the forecasted wind and cooler temps next week, north of us.
Because of the late flight, I don’t have a note for this week prepared. In the central zone, our time in the marsh starts on Saturday, and I, like many other hunters in this area, anxiously await the break of the sun and the crack of the first shot. Good luck to those fortunate enough to join the pursuit and be safe out there! More information about the waterfowl survey is on our Waterfowl Aerial Inventories page. Stay tuned for more updates next week…
