Post by Woody Williams on Dec 14, 2009 10:38:11 GMT -5
What's missing from duck season? Ducks
Phil Potter column
Remember when singer Connie Francis lamented being passed by and wailed, "Where the Boys Are?"
The current duck hunter anthem is a collective wail asking "Where the Ducks Are?" With the season well underway, waterfowl hunters keep hoping for a major duck migration to push south — but there aren't many northern birds being tallied anywhere.
Duck seasons in Indiana's North Zone are almost ready to close and none of the state refuge areas are holding significant numbers. Last week, Willow Slough Fish & Wildlife Area counted a scant two mallards; this week they've tallied 1,000 but should have ten times more. Further east, Tri-County FWA declared their duck count to be only 200 birds by Dec. 2.
Low northern counts continue into Pigeon River FWA with 150 ducks. Lower still is the Atterbury FWA count of "maybe" 50 ducks. Atterbury is located a few miles below Indianapolis, so even if this tiny flock and all the others head down they'll barely make a blip on the bird migration radar.
Current tally at Glendale FWA near Washington reveals about 100 ducks. Things look the best at Monroe Reservoir near Bloomington where 600 ducks were counted. About 200 were mallards and the remaining 400 consist of divers and smaller puddle ducks. Patoka Reservoir near Birdseye reports only 100 ducks and no current count has been listed at Duke Energy's main lake or Cane Ridge Area.
Hovey Lake reported a miniscule migration on Dec. 2 as the birds arrived around 9 a.m. and departed en masse around noon. On Dec.5, Hovey hosted a spate of diver species but they too quickly departed. Normally Hovey has a big bunch of puddle ducks hit the property by Nov. 7 with divers coming in Nov. 18, but this year it didn't happen.
Last year by Dec. 8, Hovey hunters had a reported bag of 801 ducks compared to 337 this year. Property Manager Mark Pochon laments the tally is 50 percent below average and prospects for a better season currently look bleak.
Since the North Zone never had a major build-up of birds, there probably wasn't an early overflight. Indications are many of the ducks being bagged were raised locally. If so, could it be that huge numbers of ducks are still staying in Canada? The answer is a definite yes, no and maybe.
Wintry weather in late October did affect ducks in southern Canada, Michigan, Minnesota and the Dakotas, making experts wonder if a big bunch of birds did a lateral migration. Both Texas and Louisiana are elbow deep in migrating waterfowl. Missouri officials said on Dec. 4 they have thousands of migrators but well below normal numbers.
These counts greatly differ from the August surveys done by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service which said this would be a year of record duck numbers.Where are these alleged record flights? Will a recent swath of snowy weather finally prod them down or aren't there any left up north? Expanded migration route tallies won't be done thanks to a budget crunch.
The best source for updates is state fish and wildlife websites. In Indiana, check out duck tallies at wildlife.in.gov. Meanwhile just hum the same old song "Where the Ducks Are" and hope for the best.
Phil Potter column
Remember when singer Connie Francis lamented being passed by and wailed, "Where the Boys Are?"
The current duck hunter anthem is a collective wail asking "Where the Ducks Are?" With the season well underway, waterfowl hunters keep hoping for a major duck migration to push south — but there aren't many northern birds being tallied anywhere.
Duck seasons in Indiana's North Zone are almost ready to close and none of the state refuge areas are holding significant numbers. Last week, Willow Slough Fish & Wildlife Area counted a scant two mallards; this week they've tallied 1,000 but should have ten times more. Further east, Tri-County FWA declared their duck count to be only 200 birds by Dec. 2.
Low northern counts continue into Pigeon River FWA with 150 ducks. Lower still is the Atterbury FWA count of "maybe" 50 ducks. Atterbury is located a few miles below Indianapolis, so even if this tiny flock and all the others head down they'll barely make a blip on the bird migration radar.
Current tally at Glendale FWA near Washington reveals about 100 ducks. Things look the best at Monroe Reservoir near Bloomington where 600 ducks were counted. About 200 were mallards and the remaining 400 consist of divers and smaller puddle ducks. Patoka Reservoir near Birdseye reports only 100 ducks and no current count has been listed at Duke Energy's main lake or Cane Ridge Area.
Hovey Lake reported a miniscule migration on Dec. 2 as the birds arrived around 9 a.m. and departed en masse around noon. On Dec.5, Hovey hosted a spate of diver species but they too quickly departed. Normally Hovey has a big bunch of puddle ducks hit the property by Nov. 7 with divers coming in Nov. 18, but this year it didn't happen.
Last year by Dec. 8, Hovey hunters had a reported bag of 801 ducks compared to 337 this year. Property Manager Mark Pochon laments the tally is 50 percent below average and prospects for a better season currently look bleak.
Since the North Zone never had a major build-up of birds, there probably wasn't an early overflight. Indications are many of the ducks being bagged were raised locally. If so, could it be that huge numbers of ducks are still staying in Canada? The answer is a definite yes, no and maybe.
Wintry weather in late October did affect ducks in southern Canada, Michigan, Minnesota and the Dakotas, making experts wonder if a big bunch of birds did a lateral migration. Both Texas and Louisiana are elbow deep in migrating waterfowl. Missouri officials said on Dec. 4 they have thousands of migrators but well below normal numbers.
These counts greatly differ from the August surveys done by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service which said this would be a year of record duck numbers.Where are these alleged record flights? Will a recent swath of snowy weather finally prod them down or aren't there any left up north? Expanded migration route tallies won't be done thanks to a budget crunch.
The best source for updates is state fish and wildlife websites. In Indiana, check out duck tallies at wildlife.in.gov. Meanwhile just hum the same old song "Where the Ducks Are" and hope for the best.
