Minnesota Waterfowl Migration and Hunting Report 25 October 2007

Transcription

1 Minnesota Waterfowl Migration and Hunting Report 25 October 2007 The following report is a compilation of state and federal wildlife manager reports and waterfowl surveys from across Minnesota. This is the 5 th report for Reports will be compiled weekly throughout the hunting season and should be available by Thursday afternoon each week. The Conservation Officer Report, available on the DNR web site, also contains information about waterfowl hunter success around the state. Weekly crop-weather reports for Minnesota can be obtained on the web at as well as current weather information and forecasts. General: 25 October 2007, 2:00 p.m. Many areas of the state received fair amounts of rain again over the past week, and habitat conditions are generally improved since last month. Some aerial surveys were again cancelled this week due to the poor flying conditions. Most managers reported hunting pressure continues to decline across the state. Numbers of ducks and hunting success seemed to vary widely across the state over the past week. Some areas saw fair to moderate increases in duck numbers last weekend and early this week while other areas saw decreases in duck abundance. Numbers of mid-season migrants (canvasbacks, redheads) increased notably across the state but the number of ring-necked ducks declined in some areas. A few late season migrants (buffleheads, large mergansers, tundra swans) have moved into the state, but numbers will increase over the next few weeks. Surprisingly, some early season migrants (blue-winged teal, wood ducks) still remain in the state and continue to show up in hunters bags. Duck hunters that have been scouting areas continue to have the most success. Canada goose numbers increased in most areas as some migrant geese moved into the state beginning last weekend. Numbers of geese at Lac qui Parle Wildlife Management Area increased but are still well below numbers seen at this time last year. Most waterfowl hunters continue to watch the weather and hope for a significant cold front to push more migrant birds into the state; however, conditions in southern Canada remain mild with no snow or ice present and no major cold fronts expected over the next several days. NW Roseau Karlstad Thief Lake Agassiz NWR WC Crookston Tamarac NWR Talcot Lake SW NC Park Rapids Windom Baudette Fergus Brainerd Falls Little Big Glenwood Falls Stone NWR Sauk LQP Rapids Willmar Appleton Swan Slayton Lake Grand Rapids Aitkin Rice Lake NWR C SE NE Sherburne NWR Carlos Avery Upper Miss. Rochester Owatonna Cloquet Cambridge MN Valley NWR Hunters can expect a minor cold front to move into the state beginning on Friday that should bring moderate (15+ mph) north and northwest winds with cooler temperatures. Temperatures should drop to near average for this time of year with daytime highs in the 40s in northern Minnesota and 50s in southern Minnesota for the weekend with a slight chance of precipitation each day. Nighttime lows should dip into the upper 20s in northern areas and 30s in the southern portion of the state. Winona

2 Reminder: Bag limits are 6 ducks/day with only 1 hen mallard/day allowed. The bag limit for canvasbacks has been increased from 1 to 2. The regular Canada goose season in the West Central goose zone opened October 18 th and runs through November 27 th. The bag limit is 2 Canada geese/day during the regular goose season. Motorized decoys are prohibited on state wildlife management areas the remainder of the season. Hunters should consult the 2007 Waterfowl Hunting regulations (available from license vendors or online at: for additional details and regulations. The following is a summary of reports from various reporting stations across the state.

3 NORTHWEST Thief Lake WMA Roseau River WMA NORTHEAST Rains last week further saturated the area and brought the lake up to 2 below target level. Cover on the lake remains good. Fields are saturated and many have standing water. No field work in recent weeks. All pools on RRWMA are at full pool levels. The Roseau Lake WMA has shallow slush water trapped in low areas. Sheet water remains on many private land fields. Harvest of crops and fall tillage, although nearly complete, has been stopped by the wet field conditions. Green browse remains abundant. Rains and wind last week, followed by a mild weekend. Over 5 inches of rain in October. Temps have been seasonal with daytime highs in the 50s and overnight lows in the 30s most days. Forecast is for a slight chance of rain on Friday, Oct. 26 th. The weekend weather is suppose to be sunny with highs in the 40s and overnight lows in the 20s. No major influxes of birds observed ground counts indicate that goose numbers have declined, but behavior indicates that some of the birds may be new. Weather reports from Canada indicate that mild conditions persist much further north. No major movement of waterfowl into the area noted this past week. No aerial survey last week due to the weather; may be able to complete the aerial waterfowl survey this week. Mallards, ringnecks and green-winged teal make up the majority of the harvest. Hunter success declined somewhat, to 1.65 ducks per hunter in the last 5-day period. Success dropped below 1 on the weekend. Divers continue to comprise over 75% of the bag, with redheads and ring-necks most abundant. Hunter success in the CHZ has declined to <0.1 geese/hunter. Many birds flying to refuge fields early and then to outer areas later in the morning. At this point in the season hunter use remains about 20% below last year. Duck and Canada Goose harvest is similar to last year. As usual, hunter use picked up some for MEA weekend; hunters averaged about 1 duck/hunter/day with only a few Canada Geese harvested. Very few waterfowl hunters on the area this week. The higher pool water levels and windy conditions have caused floating cattail mats to block the dike ditch boat access on Pool #2 some days. Water control structures are open on all RRWMA pools so hunters are cautioned to keep a safe distance from the structures.

4 Cloquet Water levels are normal to above normal in most areas. With little freezing weather so far, even shallow areas are still open and ice free. NORTH CENTRAL Grand Rapids Water levels good, including backwater areas, with abundant cover for ducks Park Rapids Brainerd Some smaller ponds are getting skim ice overnight. Farmers are continuing the crop harvest. The soil surface seems to be saturated and there is water flowing everywhere. Wetlands are filling up and many creeks and rivers are high. A major weather system moved through last week and into the weekend bringing rain, clouds and lots of wind. Rain most of past week, including last weekend Some minor cold fronts have moved through this past week but no significant temperature drops. Daytime highs are in the 50s and lows are now reaching the freezing mark periodically. High F Low F Seven overcast rainy days with 1.5 to 3.8 inches of moisture. Brainerd has received around 16 inches of rain in the last 30 days There appeared to be some movement of migrant ducks from Thursday through Saturday mostly ringnecks and mallards. Canada geese are still around. The late migrant species have not showed up yet. Waterfowl numbers fair and still holding in area, but they are very educated birds and hard to hunt. Cooler weather should bring later migrants soon but none have been noted thus far. Some coots have left the area. There are some Canada Geese and mallards using the Park Rapids Refuge. No major movement of birds in the area. With the better hunting success this year, a fair number of duck hunters are still out. Hunting effort low because of wet weather, success low. There has been very few duck hunters in the area. Hunting activity has been low most of the week. Weekends are about the only time anyone is out and the success is low.

5 Aikin Rice Lake NWR WEST CENTRAL Tamarac NWR Fergus Falls CENTRAL Metro region Little Falls Water levels have reached normal levels and some areas are high. Wild rice has dropped and about half is laying over, water levels have increased. Water levels still low but improving in some areas. Some fall drawdowns are in effect. Still some rice available. Corn harvest over half complete, otherwise not much change. Good with water levels still high. Water levels still increasing, and above normal in some wetlands. A sunny week with warm days and cool nights. Lows in the upper 20s, highs in the 50s, rainy during the previous week. Nightime temps have been dipping just below the freezing mark with daytime highs in the 50s. Strong 25 mph northwest winds Tuesday which had moderated by Wed. About 1.5 inches of rain in last week. Clear weather in the forecast with mild temps continuing. Got over 4 of rain over the past 10 days. Clear, dry weather expected over the next week, but still generally mild temps expected with highs in the 50s and 60s. A few ring-necks in the area, not many other ducks seen. Early migrants are gone. There was a large drop in ring-necked duck numbers. Later migrants are starting to show up (e.g. Tundra swans, Buffleheads, large mergansers). Nearly double the ringnecks since last week as new birds have pushed in. Mallards and coot numbers have remained about the same with a beginning surge of late season divers. Some mallards, geese and divers, particularly scaup and ring-necked ducks, have moved into area in last week No new birds in. Some may have trickled out. No new influx of birds. Seeing more ring-necked ducks. Still teal around. Very few hunters, success poor. There is no waterfowl hunting on Rice Lake NWR, however there has been mixed success in the surrounding area. Hunting pressure has remained strong but success has been very spotty. A few hunters claim good success while most others are reporting low bag limits (less than one bird avg.). Fair amount of shooting heard over weekend and hunters talked to appeared to have better success than previous week Activity stabilizing with few hunters out both in the mornings and evenings. Success low. Not many hunters a field. Fair success.

6 Cambridge area Sauk Rapids Carlos Avery WMA SOUTHWEST Redwood Falls Rising water levels and flooded fields have kept local and migrant birds in the area. Wetlands are generally in good condition. Soybean harvest should be nearly done by end of week. Corn harvest varies in areas but is 40-70% complete. Some flooded crop fields remain after two weeks of heavy rains. Good quantities of food but higher water levels are limiting availability. Rain stalled crop harvest; all beans are gone and 70% of corn is gone; harvest going strong again and nearly all crops should be gone by the end of the week. Lots of flooded cropland in Redwood County. Several more inches of rain. No big change in weather to bring in new birds. Stable and seasonable weather forecast for this week with some hints of changes next week. Rained every day last week. Water levels came back up and we are working to get them down again. Dry, seasonable weather should prevail this week. Appleton Wet conditions remain. Mild temps. Strong NW winds on Tuesday. Forecast calls for clear, dry and cooler temps. Some mallards along with a few wood ducks and teal. Not many geese observed in the area. Not much new to report. A few more ring-necked flocks have been observed. Some teal and wood ducks remain in area. Giant Canada geese are taking advantage of newly harvested corn fields, but are hard to predict. Looking for redhead and canvasback movement. Most ring-necked ducks left over the weekend. Excellent concentrations of wood ducks remain on area creeks and rivers; some mallards have moved into the area along with migrant geese. Fair pushes of birds into area over the last week, including swans, mallards, green-winged teal, divers, Canada and even some white-fronted geese. Waterfowl success is low as is the number of waterfowl hunters observed. Waterfowl hunter numbers have dropped off. Some success has been reported in flooded crop fields. Hunting pressure remaining steady with some shooting mornings and evenings Some hunters are targeting wood ducks and doing very well, but in general little activity by waterfowl hunters since the pheasant season opened. MEA weekend corresponded with the arrival of new birds, heavy pressure and several good reports of mixed bags.

7 Big Stone NWR Slayton Willmar West and East Pool water elevations have dropped slightly which is providing more habitat for waterfowl. Sporadic showers over the last two weeks have really slowed down the crop harvest for area farmers. Farmers have started to harvest again this week. Temporary wetlands that were dry most of the summer now have sheet water on them, i.e, more habitat for the migration. Most area wetlands have filled up with recent rains but some are not yet at full pool. Soybean harvest is basically finished; corn harvest is well under way but has been slowed by recent rains. Some fall tillage has also been completed. Excellent. Water present in most basins that had been dry. Crop harvest had been delayed because of rain but getting back into full swing now. Lots of food available for waterfowl. We received more rain showers last week that finally ended Sunday. Wet conditions persist around the area. Temps are forecast to be in the 60s through Thursday and then low 50s on Friday and down into the 40s for the weekend. This morning (Tuesday) light frost across the landscape. Highs in the mid 50s to low 60s, lows in the upper 30s. Cooler weather for the weekend, highs in the 40s with lows in the mid to upper 20s. No chances of rain for the remainder of the week. Still above normal temps. Strong WNW winds accompanying front on the 23 rd. Rainy weather has now subsided. No major change in temps with the passage of the front. Sunny and lighter winds today (24 th ) with temps. in the 60s. Duck numbers continue to increase with the arrival of canvasbacks and redheads. Another influx of mallards and gadwalls arrived over the weekend. Dominant species by numbers are mallards, gadwalls, and greenwings. No influx of geese but Lac qui Parle WMA received an influx. Three tundra swans arrived this week. It appears that most of the teal and wood ducks have left the area. Fair number of ducks and geese in the area, mostly mallards. A few diving ducks have shown up within the last week, mostly ring-necks and a few redheads and canvasbacks. Filtering of divers and geese through the area on the 20 th and 21 st and more birds coming ahead and with the front on the 23 rd. Ring-necks, canvasbacks, redheads, some gadwall and good numbers of Canada geese moving through during this time period. Mallards have been lacking. Have seen some buffleheads and hooded mergansers. Few goose hunters have been having limited success along the refuge boundary. The Refuge is closed to all waterfowl hunting, however, hunters can obtain access adjacent to or near the refuge Hunting pressure has dropped as hunters continue to focus on pheasants. A few hunters are having limited success taking mostly mallards and shovelers with a few ring-necks and canvasbacks being taken. Hunter activity has increased some from the last report with variable success from spotty to very good.

8 Lac qui Parle WMA Sheet water continues to be found in many farm fields and the crop harvest is just starting once again. Seasonal wetlands are holding water. Field feeding conditions for ducks/geese are excellent. Water levels above normal pool in Marsh lake. Temps have been seasonal. Periods of heavy rain last Thursday and Friday with strong NW winds. However, no drop in temperature associated with northerly winds. Overnight lows appear to be above average for mid to late October. Influx of ducks and geese last Friday and a more substantial influx of Canada geese into the refuge starting late Sunday and continuing into Monday morning. Current (22 October) goose count is 21,000 Canada geese on the LQP State Game Refuge. As predicted, the goose season got off to a slow start with only 7,500 CG found on the refuge on opening day. The arrival of new birds will help with success for a few days but numbers are still below average. We need a strong cold front. Good reports on duck hunting associated with the strong NW winds on Thursday and Friday. Mixture of divers and puddle ducks. Hunter numbers were high on Marsh Lake over the MEA weekend. Windom Swan Lake - Nicollet County SOUTHEAST Good conditions with many flooded fields. The water level in Swan lake remains low, but lake is about 7 inches higher than it was on the opener. Vegetation conditions are excellent for waterfowl. Cooler temps with NW winds late last week. Temps expected to warm up this week. Some drying weather anticipated. Weather remains mild. Quite a few very windy days over the last week. A few migrants, including ring-necks, observed last week but only small numbers. Migration is definitely delayed. Some migrant Canada geese observed midweek. Goose numbers are slowly increasing. Still some blue-winged teal around which is very late. Number of ducks on Swan Lake has decreased from over 6,000 last week to less than 2,000. Species present are mallards, green-winged teal and shovelers. Pretty slow, some guys getting geese, but muddy conditions are making field access difficult. Hunting success this weekend spotty at best; local birds are wise and few migrants have arrived. Green-winged teal still most common bird in bag. Hunter numbers not high, but some cars in access every day. Hunter success variable with some reporting fair to good success.

9 Owatonna Winona Rochester Water is abundant in the area. Crop harvest has resumed in the last few days. About 50% of the row crops are harvested.. Geneva Lake remains in drawdown for a planned rotenone reclamation project and water levels are about 1 below normal. Rice Lake and Bear Lake are about 1 above normal for the season. Generally good conditions still exist throughout the area. Soybean harvest is near complete and corn harvest well underway. Finally, some dry weather. Sun finally came out Monday afternoon (10-22). Fields drying, rivers normal or above. Ag harvest commencing again. Heavy rains continued with a slow moving low bringing 1.5 to 3 inches of rain across the area this week. Some precipitation was recorded every day. The sun broke through on the 20 th and again late on the 22 nd - 23 rd. High temps have been near seasonal, except for a nice warm day on the 20 th. Overnight lows were warm for the season with the clouds and rain. Cooler temps. with overnight lows in high 20s to low 30s. Slow moving cold front made it s way through the area on Monday. Sunny and seasonal Tuesday, frost in the AM. Many new ducks and geese have been moving into and through the area. Good numbers of bluewinged and wood ducks moved through 18 th 20 th and new flocks of Cackling geese began to arrive. A notable migration of Canada geese, mallards, shovelers and diving ducks, including good numbers of canvasbacks, redheads, buffleheads, scaup, ringnecks and goldeneyes was noted on the 22 nd 23 rd. Additional waterfowl are being observed. The Upper Miss. River Pools 4-14 are holding about 10,00 Canada geese, 22,000 mallards, 21,000 gadwalls, 189,000 canvasback, 21,000 ringnecks, and 22,000 scaup. We finally had a good push of Canada geese. We observed ring-necked ducks and canvasbacks for the first time this fall in the Rochester Refuge. Hunting pressure picked up considerably with the MEA break, with hunting pressure equaling or exceeding opening weekend. General reports indicated hunters were enjoying some success with a mixed bag of early migrants such as teal and wood ducks as well as Canada geese, mallards and diving ducks. At Rice Lake hunters reported averaging nearly 2.7 birds/hunter. Canada geese and blue-winged teal comprised 16% of the take respectively, followed by greenwinged teal (15%) and mallards (15%) with wood ducks and shovelers tying for third place in the bag at 10% each. Hunters reporting better success with mixed bag of ducks (mallards, wigeon, divers). Goose hunting around the Rochester Refuge is starting to pick up. Reports indicate very good hunter success on the Mississippi River since Saturday. Ring-necked ducks, canvasbacks and scaup turning up in hunter s bags as well as mallards, greenwinged teal, wood ducks, black ducks, and wigeon,

10 Waterfowl Count Data, week of October 22, 2007 Canada geese Ducks Number seen a : Number seen: Area NORTHWEST Date Swans this week This week Last count Last year This week Last count Last year This weeks duck Species - % composition b Coot this week Comments Roseau WMA 3,500 No count 5,000 No count Survey delayed Thief Lake WMA 2,000 No count 17,000 No count Survey delayed NORTH CENTRAL Beltrami/Clearwater Cos 10/ ,000 6,000 8,000 65% RN, 34% MAL 3,000 Partial survey Winni/Bowstring area or Chippewa Nat. Forest N Leech Lake/Deer River Chippewa Nat. Forest S Brainerd/Wadena area 10/ , , ,000 55,000 Survey delayed ,000 86,000 Survey delayed 74% RN, 18% MAL, 5% SCP, 2% WD Rice Lake NWR 10/ ,000 3,700 No count 18,000 56,000 No count 72% RN, 26% MAL 9,000 WEST CENTRAL Shallow Lakes (north) 10/ ,000 86% RN, 14% MAL 1,000 Partial survey Tamarac NWR 10/ ,000 19,000 18,000 97% RN, 3% MAL 11,000 CENTRAL 6,000 Carlos Avery WMA 10/ ,000 15,000 8,000 Shallow Lakes (central) 10/ ,000 14,000 13,000 77% MAL, 11% RN, 6% PIN, 5% GWT 41% RN, 27% SCP, 16% CAN, 8% RED, 6% MAL, 2% GAD 3, ,000 SOUTHWEST Big Stone NWR 10/23 3 4,200 5,400 No count 27,000 17,000 No count 65% MAL, 24%GAD, 5% GWT, 2% WIG Lac qui Parle WMA 10/ ,000 7,500 83,000 6,000 5, % MAL 3,000 Murray Co. lakes & wetlands 10/ ,300 1,500 1,600 1,000 1,000 61% MAL, 19% RN, 8% GWT, 3% WIG, 3% GAD, 3% SHOV 100

11 Talcot Lake WMA 10/24 0 1, ,100 1,300 1,000 3,000 Shallow Lakes (south) 10/24 0 2, ,000 19,000 15,000 19,000 SOUTHEAST Rochester 10/ ,000 4, % MAL, 11%GWT, 8% RUD, 4% RN, 3% GAD, 2% PIN 68% MAL, 12% RN, 5% RUD, 5% GWT, 3% SHOV, 2% SCP 30,000 Upper Mississippi River 10/ ,000 7,500 10, ,000 64, ,000 66% CAN, 8% MAL, 8% SCP, 7% RN, 7% GAD, 1% PIN 100,000 Pools 4-14 a - Numbers seen during the current survey, last survey: the previous count from this year, last year: the number recorded during the same or nearby week last year. b - abbreviations: MAL = mallard, GAD = Gadwall, WIG = Am. wigeon, GWT = Am. green-winged teal, BWT = blue-winged teal, SHOV = Northern shoveler, PIN = Northern pintail, WD = Wood duck, RED = Redhead, CAN = Canvasback, SCP = Scaup, RN = Ring-necked duck, HOOD = Hooded merganser, RUD = Ruddy duck