11-20-2007, 10:10 PM
LITTLE ROCK - From one extreme to the other, habitat conditions varied widely across the state. The Arkansas River Valley is extremely dry while northeast Arkansas is extremely wet in many locations and dry in others. Biologists from the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission completed their first aerial waterfowl survey of the season last week and found that conditions were all over the weather map. Arkansas's waterfowl season gets underway this Saturday.
AGFC waterfowl biologist Luke Naylor said that the state was drier than normal in the east central and southwest survey regions while the southeast survey region was very dry. "October rains appear to have both positively and negatively affected habitat availability this November. Where crops had already been harvested, farmers were able to capture rainfall to flood fields. On the other hand, in many areas heavy rain events slowed harvest and farmers were still working to get crops out of the field during the survey period," Naylor said. "Many of these fields typically are flooded for waterfowl hunting prior to the November survey but were not this year," he added.
Naylor said the statewide total duck count of 388,311 represents a 73 percent increase from last year's count of 285,187 and the highest count since 2004 but still below the 1985-2007 November survey average of 570,924 ducks. "This November's mallard count of 146,735 is a 73 percent increase from last year's count of 106,823 and, like total duck numbers, the highest count since 2004 but it remains well below the long-term average of 275,459 mallards," he said.
Not surprisingly, over 85 percent of the mallards observed during the survey were counted in northeast Arkansas where the greatest amount of habitat is available. "Snow goose numbers (170,770 this year, 332,850 last year) were about half of the November 2006 survey total, and the greatest number of these birds was seen in the northeast and east central survey regions. Counts of white-fronted geese in the November survey increased substantially again this year, totaling 58,660 compared to the 2006 estimate of 31,905 geese," Naylor stated.
Although the November 2007 survey totals are up markedly from 2006, they still remain low on average. "Most survey regions had low numbers of mallards, the exception being northeast Arkansas. Reduced early numbers are undoubtedly due to low habitat availability in the state resulting from a mixture of persistent dry conditions in the northwest region and delayed harvest and flooding in the Delta. Certainly several migration events have occurred in conjunction with cold fronts during October and November bringing large numbers of ducks and geese to Arkansas," Naylor says.
At this point, biologists don't know to what extent migrating waterfowl bypassed the dry conditions in northwest Arkansas and parts of the Delta and moved on to Louisiana (Louisiana biologists recently counted over 1 million ducks in that state). "Migrating waterfowl responded to excellent habitat conditions in northeast Arkansas and the highest concentrations of birds were seen on large, contiguous blocks of flooded habitat, highlighting the importance of complexes of habitat to attract and hold waterfowl. Duck, and particularly mallard, numbers may remain low until habitat conditions improve and continued cold fronts across the U.S. bring more birds to their Arkansas wintering grounds," Naylor said.
AGFC waterfowl biologist Luke Naylor said that the state was drier than normal in the east central and southwest survey regions while the southeast survey region was very dry. "October rains appear to have both positively and negatively affected habitat availability this November. Where crops had already been harvested, farmers were able to capture rainfall to flood fields. On the other hand, in many areas heavy rain events slowed harvest and farmers were still working to get crops out of the field during the survey period," Naylor said. "Many of these fields typically are flooded for waterfowl hunting prior to the November survey but were not this year," he added.
Naylor said the statewide total duck count of 388,311 represents a 73 percent increase from last year's count of 285,187 and the highest count since 2004 but still below the 1985-2007 November survey average of 570,924 ducks. "This November's mallard count of 146,735 is a 73 percent increase from last year's count of 106,823 and, like total duck numbers, the highest count since 2004 but it remains well below the long-term average of 275,459 mallards," he said.
Not surprisingly, over 85 percent of the mallards observed during the survey were counted in northeast Arkansas where the greatest amount of habitat is available. "Snow goose numbers (170,770 this year, 332,850 last year) were about half of the November 2006 survey total, and the greatest number of these birds was seen in the northeast and east central survey regions. Counts of white-fronted geese in the November survey increased substantially again this year, totaling 58,660 compared to the 2006 estimate of 31,905 geese," Naylor stated.
Although the November 2007 survey totals are up markedly from 2006, they still remain low on average. "Most survey regions had low numbers of mallards, the exception being northeast Arkansas. Reduced early numbers are undoubtedly due to low habitat availability in the state resulting from a mixture of persistent dry conditions in the northwest region and delayed harvest and flooding in the Delta. Certainly several migration events have occurred in conjunction with cold fronts during October and November bringing large numbers of ducks and geese to Arkansas," Naylor says.
At this point, biologists don't know to what extent migrating waterfowl bypassed the dry conditions in northwest Arkansas and parts of the Delta and moved on to Louisiana (Louisiana biologists recently counted over 1 million ducks in that state). "Migrating waterfowl responded to excellent habitat conditions in northeast Arkansas and the highest concentrations of birds were seen on large, contiguous blocks of flooded habitat, highlighting the importance of complexes of habitat to attract and hold waterfowl. Duck, and particularly mallard, numbers may remain low until habitat conditions improve and continued cold fronts across the U.S. bring more birds to their Arkansas wintering grounds," Naylor said.