I took a couple hours to go to the Talcot WMA area today. The water is down
considerably in several fields (Hwy 62 was closed mid-week), but the river
is still flowing and flooding. Most snow is melted (except for shaded or
drifted areas), but there is very little open water. The unfrozen water is
largely just the floodwaters of the Des Moines River.
Anyhow, there was a Phoebe in Talcot WMA. Ducks seem to have shown up in
decent numbers with Canvasbacks and Lesser Scaup being especially
conspicious on the east side of County 7.
Most of the variety in geese was ound just east of County 6. I did some
counting, but it was difficult. There were at least 50 Cackling Geese
present (there was a flock of 50+ near the road). I counted 400 Snow Geese
before an Eagle flushed them all. I guessed there were about 1,000 and they
were probably outnumbered at least 10 to 1 by White-fronts. I am not sure
what bird was most abundant today, but White-fronted Goose was a contender.
Eagles were considerably less abundant than a week ago, Harriers, Kestrals,
and Redtails were the dominant raptors.
I didn't take notes, but at least the following were present by the
thousands just downstream of Talcot: Greater White-fronted Goose, Canada
Goose, Mallard, Lesser Scaup, Canvasback, and Ringneck Duck. Also
conspicious were Goldeneye (few), Common Mergansers (few), Redheads,
Shovelers, Pintail, Wood Duck (few), swans, Gadall (few), and Widgeon.
I will imagine duck numbers will explode by next weekend.
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