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We flew the waterfowl survey on Tuesday, December 22
nd. Coincidentally, this flight was on the last day of Illinois’ central zone duck season. We had noticeable ice on several of the refuges, especially on the northern reaches of both the Illinois and Mississippi rivers. Duck numbers along the Illinois River (249,625) were similar to the previous week and still remained well above average for late December.
The central Mississippi River was a different story. Duck numbers dropped (~50%) along the lower Mississippi River from Quincy to Grafton; however, there were still nearly 300,000 ducks along the river this week. We just didn’t see the large concentrations of ducks at Swan Lake (Two Rivers NWR), Long Lake, Cuivre, Batchtown SFWA, Towhead, Delair NWR, or Ted Shanks CA. We are not sure where the ducks went, but they weren’t in their usually spots on the refuges. With the frigid weather arriving over the Christmas holiday, I suspect there will be fewer birds next w ....

Henderson County , United States , Swan Lake , Long Lake , Illinois River , Aaron Yetter , Illinois Natural History , Illinois Natural History Survey , Forbes Biological Station Facebook , Aerial Waterfowl Inventory , Mississippi River , Two Rivers , Ted Shanks , Cuivre Refuge , Henderson County Conservation Area , ஹென்டர்சன் கவுண்டி , ஒன்றுபட்டது மாநிலங்களில் , அன்னம் ஏரி , நீண்டது ஏரி , இல்லினாய்ஸ் நதி , ஆரோன் இன்னும் , இல்லினாய்ஸ் இயற்கை வரலாறு , இல்லினாய்ஸ் இயற்கை வரலாறு கணக்கெடுப்பு , ஃபோர்ப்ஸ் உயிரியல் நிலையம் முகநூல் , வான்கம்பி நீர்வீழ்ச்சி சரக்கு , மிசிசிப்பி நதி ,