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| A mix of Northern Shovelers (drake in foreground and pair just below fliers), Green-winged Teal (in flight and far right), and a solitary black duck enjoying last summer's millet crop (March 29, 2017). |
One of Roy's common lines that quickly became one of my favorites is some variation of the phrase, "It's nice when you can see ducks being ducks." In essence, what that means to me is that it is rewarding to see situations where waterfowl can behave as they would naturally. This doesn't mean Canada geese on a golf course fairway or mallards in an urban ditch aren't part of nature. It just means that those observations reflect major adaptations made by certain species to adjust to life in a largely human world.
The image above is one of Roy's first from the new Canon SX60. As he's prone to doing, Roy diminishes its quality and reminds me that he has a lot of work to do to knock the rust off his photography skills. First off, we don't necessarily need (or expect) Audubon quality with these images. Secondly, the first batch that he sent me today has some really neat stuff, and I know that they are only going to get better as we get accustom to the equipment. (No pressure, Roy.)
I chose the photo above for a couple reasons. One, I wanted to make a fundamental clarification that while ducks and duck hunting are an absolutely critical element of the local environment's natural history (in terms of wildlife and human interaction with the natural world), and while we most certainly want to encourage environments that attract and benefit ducks (for the sake of the birds and the hunters), this project has set out to manage for holistic ecological benefit. Roy and I appreciate that these birds are a big reason -- maybe the only reason -- that these wetlands are still on the map. Never underestimate the passion of a duck hunter. But we also recognize that there is a tremendous diversity of life that also relies heavily or completely on coastal marsh habitat.
Bottom line: We want to make decisions that are good for ducks but also that will be good for fish, amphibians, reptiles, mammals, and even more obscure groups like insects or freshwater mussels. The list that can benefit is long. And the determination of what benefits is largely driven by vegetation (which is in turn dictated by water levels over time). Management is largely about trade-offs.
I also wanted to include this photo to document that this spring's duck migration (which unfortunately may already be 90% behind us in Sandusky Bay) was marked by several unique observations. The temporary "walking" ice that did form in December was completely gone by late January. While the water did skim over to ice a few times since (shallow water can freeze with just a few cold nights), the migration most certainly started early.
What may be most notable about what we saw this year though was (1) the numbers of Northern Shovelers and Northern Pintails co-mingling in our 40-acres of millet, and (2) how long they stuck around (at least three weeks in big numbers). Shovelers and pintails aren't particularly regular companion species to begin with in the spring, but it was even more unique that we had literally thousands of them hanging out -- sometimes with 40+ Trumpeter Swans -- on a daily basis. We should have bought that camera for Christmas.
ASIDE: Toledo Blade Editorial, 03/30/17: Fight for Lake Erie