The wood duck is one of the Mississippi Flyway’s and Iowa’s most recreationally important waterfowl. This fact is especially true for me. During the course of a year,
Lowell Washburn
Guest columnist
The hatch is on. Breaking free of their eggshell imprisonment, broods of newborn wood ducks are getting their first glimpse of the Iowa outdoors. Leaping from tree cavity nest sites, boisterous chains of fluffy ducklings are following mother ducks over hill and dale. The road trip concludes upon reaching the shallow wetlands where web-foot families find safe havens of food and cover.
For a female wood duck, the journey is a milestone event. Getting off a successful hatch is never an easy task. The saga began on the southern wintering grounds when the hen chose her mate from a competing gallery of colorful suitors. As the days grew longer, the duck became increasingly restless and soon began leading her mate northward, arriving in Iowa soon after ice out. Female wood ducks possess an overwhelming urge to return to the place of their birth, often homing to the same cavity where they were hatched. But because the male follows the hen to her
Ben Van Gundy, 68, passed away peacefully in his home on February 11, 2021 after a long battle with multiple health issues. Originally born in Fort Dodge, IA