Band Returns

[Catdaddy]

Well I finally got my reward band information back yesterday.
The mallard was banded in Linesville,Pa. That's on the Oh/Penn line right below Lake Erie. It's on Lake Pymatuning(if that means anything).

That makes the 5th band i've gotten from that area over the years, with most of the rest being from Ontario. Linesville is in line with any duck coming or going to Ontario from SC. Some bands came from the Pee Dee River and some from the Santee Swamp............meaning that is a pretty important area for ducks coming to SC.

After reviewing the certificate and the others from there, I see where they are all banded in Aug. and early September. Which means to me that this was before migration and even staging. So we must have a breeding ground in that area for SC ducks. I think we can see a pattern from this information.


JAB or anyone else,

Would you review your banding info and see if this information corresponds to your band recoveries at Two Rivers. I would be interested in the number and the banding dates of your recoveries from that area.

[JABIII]

CD, we have several from Linesville as well. I will check this weekend to see the dates and how many etc... Congrats on the Reward!

[Red]

I've got a few Mallards from Ontario, and Woodducks from Ohio.

[JABIII]

As a matter of fact, most of our band returns have come from Linesville and nearby Alabama, NY...

[Catdaddy]

Interesting,.............very interesting.

[SCDuckSlayer]

CD, a buddy of mine killed a banded woodie this year that was banded on the other side of Lake Erie directly north of where yours came from.

[JABIII]

Cat, you may be on to something. I checked a few certificates I had around here and your dates were confirmed to a T. Here were the ones I had-
The first number is the year they were born and the second set is the banding date...

Alabama,NY- 82 8/31/83
Alabama,NY- 86 9/15/86
Alabama,NY- 90- 8/30/90
Seneca Falls,NY- 91- 8/26/92
Poplar Ridge,NY- 93- 9/28/93
Chase Mills,NY- 96- 9/27/96
Ingleside,NY- 96- 9/10/96
Stone Mill,NY-90 8/10/90
Linesville,PA- 91- 8/30/92
Linesville,PA- 92- 8/20/92
Linesville,PA- 89- 8/31/90
Linesville,PA- 92- 8/20/92
Linesville,PA- 87- 1/27/88
Shippenburg PA- 91-8/16/91

I will go through the others this weekend and include all the Ontario band dates as well...

[Catdaddy]

JAB,
I have emailed Mr. Ian Gregg,bander and Waterfowl Biologist for PA, for some further insight into this area. He's been in charge since 2000. Maybe we'll have some additional info by tomorrow or Friday. He returned my last email within 24 hours.

I also have some from Chase Mills,NY. I lost most of my certificates with a house fire at my parents home in 2002. I wonder if I can recall the band numbers back in for the location and banding dates.

[mudflat]

Several years ago I killed a woody that was banded in Buffalo NY. It came from the ROD AND GUN CLUB in that area. They are a private club who have a banding of wood ducks each year. From what I understand from his letter was that they are TAMIES that they release. Surprised him when I called cause this was there first return. Killed in Horry county. Looks like it's in the same line as the ducks yall killed.

[Mergie Master]

I killed a hen mallard on Lake Greenwood in the early 80's that had been banded in Linesville, PA also if I remember correctly. I'll check the cert and make sure, but I'm almost absolutely positive.

[Catdaddy]

This is straight off the DU website. This area is (just west) connected to the Linesville area.




Jonas Davis - from California, is a Masters of Science student at the University of Montana. Jonas was the site leader at the Tristate field site last summer.
Crew Members:

Mark Gritzer– from Greensburg, Pennsylvania

Heather Taylor- from Windsor, Ontario

Rebecca Smith- From Austin, Texas




The 2003 Ohio field site is located 20 miles north of Warren, within Ashtabula and Trumbull counties, north of the Mosquito Creek Wildlife Management Area. The topography of the area is described as slightly rolling hills with many 1st and 2nd order streams feeding into the lower valley rivers. Grasslands, forests, and marshes of the Mosquito Creek Wildlife Management Area dominate the southern portion of the study site. The northern half is mainly agricultural dispersed among tracts of woodland. Small creeks are abundant in the area, but small temporary and seasonal wetlands are scarce compared to the WI and MI study sites. Canada geese, mallards, and wood ducks dominate the waterfowl community.


Updates
August 2003
The Ohio field site has come to a close. The four last broods reached their 45 day counts with 1, 2, 5, and 10 ducklings. Habitat classification has been completed where over 1,400 wetlands were classified within the study area. A majority of those wetlands were agricultural ditches and low order streams. Most successful nests occurred on the southern end of the study area where wetland density was greatest.

Heather Taylor and Mark Gritzer completed their contract through July and have returned to Ontario and Pennsylvania. The crew leader, Jonas Davis, headed back to Montana in Mid-August to begin analysis of all the nest data collected over the 3-year study.

The OH crew would like to especially thank the landowners of Ashtabula and Trumbull counties for all of there help, cooperation, and hospitality. Another big reason for such a successful field season was the graciousness and assistance provided by the Ohio DNR staff of the Mosquito Creek Waterfowl Management Area.
July 15, 2003
Nest success at the Ohio field site continues to increase as one of the two remaining nests hatched on 7/14. She was spotted on 7/15 with 3 ducklings traveling south through a small drainage. Her full clutch was 5 eggs but only 3 hatched successfully. The remaining active nest is due to hatch 7/16. Currently, the crew is tracking 5 active broods where their last counts revealed 2, 3, 5, 7, and 7 ducklings. A 45-day count on 7/9 for one particular brood hen meant daily tracking has ended for her. She had only one remaining duckling.

Habitat classification of all upland and wetland habitat within the study area is almost complete. The remainder of the season will consist of brood observations, proofing data, and wrapping up the final season of the Great Lakes Mallard Study. If there are any specific questions concerning the Ohio field site, feel free to contact Jonas Davis at 440-685-4253.

July 1, 2003
The nesting season at the Ohio field site is quickly nearing its end. Currently, only 2 active nests are being monitored with a few remaining hens that may try again. An astounding 18 of 56 total nests hatched successfully (roughly 32%) where nesting habitat has varied significantly.

Successful Nest Habitat

Grassland
Planted Cover
Hayland
Scrubland
Wetland
Other

3
3
4
1
6
1




However, brood survival has not faired as well as nest success this year. Four out of 13 brooding hens being tracked this season lost all of their ducklings within a week of hatching. Last counts for the remaining broods are 3 hens with 6, 2 with 10, 7, 4, and 1.

Another indication that the season is coming to a close has been the frequent observations of flocked mallards in large and small groups. Three radioed hens have been confirmed so far with a few more suspected. A telemetry flight will occur this coming week to fly over large bodies of water where more flocked hens may be discovered.

The Ohio field crew is close to half way through upland and wetland classification of the study area. Classification of the southern half of the study area is slow going due to the heavily wooded sections of Mosquito Creek Wildlife Management Area where the northern portion is mostly agricultural with many ditches and small order streams. Crewmember, Rebecca Smith, completed her contract through June and has returned to Texas.

June 15, 2003
In the past 2 weeks, nest success has dramatically increased on the Ohio study area. Currently, there have been 13 successful hatches with more expected in the coming week (June 16, 18, 20, 23, and 30). Most hatches have occurred in grassland and wetland habitat. Due to wet weather trends, farmers have not been able to cut hay, which equaled success for one lucky hen that hatched last week. Brood survival has been fairly good with the exception of one hen that lost her whole brood on the second day after hatching. Current brood counts range from 4 to 10 ducklings, and brood mixing has occurred quite often. Successful hens have tended to congregate to large, densely vegetated wetland complexes where many broods are observed during counts for radioed birds.

The crew is now staying busy with many long and challenging brood observations, daily tracking of the remaining hens, and habitat classification of all wetlands within the 60 square mile study area.

May 31, 2003
The nesting season at the Ohio field site is now in full swing. A majority of the hens being tracked are on nest or with a brood. The remaining birds are in between nest attempts and are currently scouting for a new nest site. With the recent wave of rainstorms in the area, nesting cover has increased dramatically. Hayfields are near their first cut, and row crops are just beginning to sprout. Although corn and soybeans are the dominant cash crops in the area, there is a significant portion of hay land and winter wheat, which are commonly used for nesting. Currently, 2 nests are in hay but no winter wheat nests have been recorded so far. Other nest habitats consist of 29 in grass, 3 in scrubland, 11 in wetland, 2 in woodland, and one in a flowerbed. Successful nest attempts have occurred in wetland habitat (3 nests), grassland (2 nests), a flowerbed (1 nest). The next 5 expected hatches are; June 1, 3, 4, 5, and 10.

Missing birds have created quite a challenge this year. Many birds simply vanished a few days after their first nest attempt failed. Extensive telemetry flights outside the study area were conducted the past two weeks with minimal results. Fortunately, two hens that were discovered during flights are on nests in remote areas we could not detect from the trucks. Despite difficulties, the crew will continue to search for those missing hens.

May 15, 2003
The Ohio crew is hard at work searching for many of the hens that have recently lost their nest. It is common that the hen will flee and move around after her nest is destroyed….the challenge is finding where they end up. Thirty-six nest attempts have been recorded where two of those have hatched successfully. The first successful hen hatched 11 eggs on April 29 from a nest structure located in a large constructed wetland. The most current brood observation revealed 6 ducklings. The second successful hen hatched on May 7, crossed a large managed marsh, and now resides in a 20-acre scrub-shrub wetland. Brood counts on this hen have not been successful due to dense stands of steeplebush and deep water. The crew will continue to try and get a visual of this difficult brood. The next 5 expected hatches are: May 17, May 23, May 24, April 8, and April 10.



Nesting habitat has been 23 grassland (7 in CRP), 3 scrubland, 8 wetland, and 2 woodland nests. Two hens have nested twice and one mallard is on her third attempt. One particular mallard hen chose to nest 40 ft. up in the crook of a tree about 50 yards from the creek in which she was trapped. Unfortunately, the nest was predated a few days into incubation. The cause of most nest predations has been mammalian (raccoon and mink) and two terminations due to crows.



Four hen mortalities have been recorded so far where only one death occurred on nest. Another hen had suddenly moved east from her usual location into a large woodlot. Her transmitter was found 3 days later in a Great Horned Owl nest 45 ft. up in a maple tree. Cause of death for the other 2 hens could not be determined.

April 2003
The Ohio Field Crew set the first decoy traps of the season on 22 March 2003 and caught our 60 th hen on 18 April 2003. Ultimately, it took 28 continuous days of active trapping to capture 60 hens. Within that period, 124 mallards were banded and 7 previously banded birds that were released upon capture. Band reports from those mallards stated they were all from Linesville, PA near Pymatuning Wildlife Area.


The crew is currently learning the habits of their birds and tracking them daily. Twenty-five nests have been initiated (18 active), with many more expected to be discovered in the coming days. Two active nests are located in mallard nest structures on a DU project built a few years back. Most of the nests are in grass fields, with 2 in woodlots and 1 on the edge of a wetland. Many of our birds were trapped on small creeks this year, so it will be interesting to see where they choose to nest. The next 5 expected hatches are; May 5, May 9, May 13, May 14, and May 17.

The number of nests discovered in the coming week is expected to greatly increase due to the crews becoming more familiar with each hen’s daily movement and much less variability in where they are triangulated each morning. A telemetry flight for lost and inconsistent birds also took place this week and resulted in finding 2 hens that have been missing for over a week. Both were in areas that the telemetry trucks could not pick up. Another flight will be scheduled in the coming weeks to try again for those that weren’t found the first time and any new birds that go “M.I.A.”

[Catdaddy]

Interesting

Follow the hens:

http://www.ducks.org/conservation/Pr...s/OhioHen1.asp

[Catdaddy]

Alot of DU projects in that area. If we can just get that brooding success ratio up...............hmmm.


Pennsylvania;

http://www.ducks.org/community/state...nnsylvania.pdf


Ohio;

http://www.ducks.org/community/states/2003/Ohio.pdf

[SCH2Ofowler]

A buddy of mine just got his band info back. He killed a drake mallard this year on a pond near Laurens. The bird was released from Linesville,Pa. and was said to be 11 years old.

[UpstateAngler]

Killed a drake woodie banded in Alabama NY. Killed in upstate SC. First band I ever got.

[Duckman#1]

I looked through a few of mine that were killed here in SC and found this one that was killed in sparleberry.

mallard Drake

Banded 08/25/86 Near Colebrook OH

Recovered 12/23/86

The mallard was banded in Linesville,Pa. That's on the Oh/Penn line right below Lake Erie. It's on Lake Pymatuning(if that means anything).

CD , This bird was banded just west from your bird Near Colebrook OH just across the state line from PA.


Another one I found came from Ontario Canada near the town of Elmvale Ont. Not sure where that is.


Mallard Drake

Banded 08/24/86

Recovered 12/20/86

Note both these bird were banded a day apart and recovered 3 days apart in the some hole.It was a 5 band season for me that year!

[Catdaddy]

That's good information DM. The more information we have on the areas that supply SC with mallards,the better decisions we can make in the future.

[Duckman#1]

The more information we have on the areas that supply SC with mallards,the better decisions we can make in the future.

AGREED!!!!


I killed one last year(03-04) on the Broad river that was 7.5 years old that was banded near Foam Lake Saskatuwan Canada. I'm sure this is not the norm but thats a long flight!