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Josh Osborn has a unique job. The Navy veteran turned ecologist leads the waterfowl aerial inventories from the Frank Bellrose Waterfowl Research Center at the Forbes Biological Station in Havana.
Credit: Aaron Yetter/Illinois Natural History Survey It’s a bit late, but I think it is important to post Aaron Yetter’s final blog of the season off the weekly aerial waterfowl survey for the Illinois Natural History Survey. As you might guess, building ice truly impacted the survey and makes it the right time to stop for the season. Click here for the listings of aerial surveys by the Illinois Natural History Survey. Keep up with research updates and aerial surveys at the Forbes Biological Station Facebook page. Here is Yetter’s final blog of the season: January 8, 2021 – Aerial Wa...
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 duck...
We made it back into the air on Tuesday, December 15 th following a couple of nights with temperatures in the low 20’s. Consequently, ice returned to many areas along both rivers. Total duck numbers remained 50% and 43% above average along the Illinois (240,805 ducks) and central Mississippi rivers (554,885 ducks). Mallards were the dominant species encountered and represented 74% of the total ducks along the Illinois River and 60% of total ducks on the Mississippi River. Northern pintail, green-winged teal, and ring-necked ducks were still plentiful in many locations. The North Zone duck s...