By Rick Warhurst, Manager of Conservation Programs, ND and SD
DU was involved in duck banding at three sites in North Dakota from August 1 through September 17, 2008. The three sites were Lake Ilo NWR, Audubon NWR and Coteau Ranch in southern Sheridan County. The first two sites were funded by the Central Flyway Council while DU funded the Coteau Ranch banding effort. This was the 12th year of banding at Lake Ilo NWR, the second year at Audubon NWR and the initial year of banding at Coteau Ranch. All three crews worked hard and made great efforts to capture and band ducks. It was dry in all three areas and particularly at Lake Ilo in western North Dakota near Killdeer. At Lake Ilo all banding was performed on the Refuge. Water levels were the lowest in the lake that I have observed during the 12 years. Many of the shallow pothole wetlands situated on private land near Audubon NWR were dry, so the ducks were using the Refuge in early August. Much of the banding occurred on the Refuge. The Coteau Ranch crew banded on privately owned wetlands, a USFWS Waterfowl Production Area, TNC wetlands and the Coteau Ranch wetlands. Again, generally conditions were dry at all three sites.
Predation of ducks in traps was more severe this year than in previous years even though much effort was made to capture predators, particularly raccoons and mink. By early September all three crews were leaving the duck traps open at night and closing them at 5:30 A.M. daily. Banding was performed in late morning and early afternoon. This did alleviate the predation problem but certainly made for some long days.
Banding results for the three sites follow:
Coteau Ranch
Mallards 113
Gadwalls 27
Wigeon 1
Green-winged Teal 13
Blue-winged Teal 2,282
Pintails 9
Redheads 53
Wood Ducks 22
Total 2,520
Audubon NWR
Mallards 424
Blue-winged Teal 781
Pintails 132
Gadwalls 57
Wood Ducks 38
Green-winged Teal 30
Redheads 20
Wigeon 12
Scaup 4
Canvasback 3
Ring-neck 1
Black Duck 1
Total 1,503
Lake Ilo NWR
Mallards 31
Pintails 6
Wood Ducks 10
Redheads 3
Blue-winged Teal 566
Green-winged Teal 78
Total 694