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Inside the Spring Survey Delta's Cam Meuckon The survey area that I'll be working in this spring is in southwest Manitoba and the southeastern corner of Saskatchewan. For the first portion of the survey we are staying in Brandon MB, approximately 200 km's from the SK border, from here we will travel west and north into Saskatchewan. Every morning our crew of nine is up and on the road early enough to catch the birds when they are on open water performing their courtship displays and competing for hens. Typically we are able to cover between 2-4 survey segments every morning. I'm afraid my first day afield in Southern Manitoba has yielded little in the way of good news. I've heard people say that “Where you find water you will find ducks”, well, I haven't seen much of either. The small seasonal wetlands in this part of the province are drier than I can remember seeing. On one transect line completed today over 90% of the wetland basins were dry. On the ponds that did hold water there were good numbers of mallards, blue and green winged teal, shoveler, pintail, redheads and canvasback. One pond in particular held several hundred gadwall and a variety of other species. Overall however, habitat conditions are far from favorable for nesting ducks. Dry conditions also allow wetland margins to be cleared and cultivated, restricting nesting habitat. Today’s highlight came when I was stopped by a local farmer. I was cruising on an ATV, armed with maps, data sheets and binoculars, which naturally piqued his curiosity. It turns out he was a second generation rancher from Hartney in southern MB. He is also a dedicated conservationist who has abundant wetlands on his land and has installed and maintained several home made nesting structures on his land. We had the opportunity to visit about Delta’s Hen House program. It’s raining here right now and conditions can literally change overnight. Within the next day or two we will be headed to Saskatchewan, where reportedly water conditions are better than in Manitoba. Cam Meuckon -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- May 11, 2008 Report As a duck hunter growing up in Southern Manitoba, spring has always been nearly as exciting a time as the fall. Throughout April and May literally millions of ducks and geese make the return journey to their traditional breeding grounds across the Canadian prairie. After 5 months of Manitoba winter the first pair of Mallards are a most welcome sight! In early May when the breeding season is in full swing, waterfowl biologists from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and the Canadian Wildlife Service (CWS) head afield to estimate breeding populations for ducks and geese. These surveys are done annually and are used to monitor population status and determine annual hunting regulations across North America. I've been fortunate enough to be involved with these annual air / ground surveys for the last 5 years, originally as a student technician with CWS and this year contributing to the survey on behalf of Delta Waterfowl. Over the next couple of weeks I'll be providing you with reports from the front lines of Canada's duck factory as part of my role in the survey in southern Manitoba and Saskatchewan. Information on water levels, habitat conditions, numbers of birds, how the survey's are conducted, and anything else that may be of interest along the way! I'll start off with a brief summary of how the surveys are conducted. As mentioned earlier, the air ground surveys are a joint effort between USFWS and CWS. USFWS provide the plane, pilot and an observer for the survey. This year our pilot is from Alaska and our observer is from Maryland. This flight crew flies a predetermined transect at approximately 125 feet and 100 mph counting ducks and surveying water levels along their line. After the flight crew completes their run, the CWS ground crew does a shorter segment of the transect. This second run of the same transect provides a correction factor for birds the air crew may have missed. Once these numbers are pooled an estimate of the breeding population is generated. So to all the Delta members across North America who are anxiously awaiting news from the breeding grounds, I sincerely hope I can provide you with a snapshot of the Canadian breeding grounds and an idea of what's to come this fall! Stay tuned! Cam Meuckon Hunter Recruitment Director Delta Waterfowl Foundation |
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