It didn’t get much publicity in the Upper Midwest, but several national outdoors media outlets reported last week that America’s first National Wildlife Refuge dedicated to waterfowl, the Klamath Basin in northern California, is bone dry. Theodore Roosevelt himself established the 192,000-acre refuge to provide critical habitat for migratory waterfowl, shorebirds, and other wildlife species in the Pacific Flyway. As we’ve seen everywhere in mainstream media, severe drought has affected the region, and that’s bad news for ducks and duck hunting in America’s No. 1 waterfowling state. Y ..read more

MADISON, Wis. — The Wisconsin DNR today announced the winners of the 2023 Wisconsin wild turkey, pheasant and waterfowl stamp design contest. Many talented wildlife artists submitted a total of 34 pieces for judging, which took place on Aug. 27 at the Wisconsin Waterfowl Expo in Oshkosh. Each year, talented Wisconsin wildlife artists enter to have their paintings featured on the next renditions of the wild turkey, pheasant and waterfowl stamps, which are available for purchase through Go Wild and license agents. By purchasing stamps, hunters, conservationists and stamp collectors fund hab ..read more

Awake in middle night recently, I wandered outside for some fresh air to “take inventory” on nature’s nocturnal goings-on. Someone at the edge of hearing was playing a radio. Or so I thought. But as I stood for a few minutes, listening, the vague sound of that distant “radio” began to crystallize and I suddenly realized I was listening to the calls of a high-flying skein of Canada geese in migration. It gave me goosebumps to listen to this ancient singing. No, these weren’t the giant honkers that poop on sidewalks and golf courses everywhere nowadays. These were northern birds, boogeying south ..read more

With the calendar turning the page into autumn, it’s time to start thinking about waterfowl hunting. Even though we enjoyed 25 days of an early nuisance Canada goose season in September, it can be difficult to really get into chasing geese when warmer temperatures (and mosquitos) are still hanging around. More importantly, there is good news on the horizon for some of our waterfowl populations. For those interested in ducks and geese, there was a special virtual waterfowl meeting Sept. 21, 2022 that provided highlights of wetland management and research programs at Iroquois National Wildlife R ..read more

By Ron and Ronny Hustvedt It was a big weekend in the waterfowling world, especially in Minnesota. In addition to it being the state waterfowler opener, a Minnesota artist once again won the national duck stamp contest. Joe Hautman’s painting of three tundra swans flying over a wetland emerged victorious after two days of judging, earning a sixth duck stamp victory and putting him in a tie for the most duck stamps by any artist. He now shares the record with his brother, Jim Hautman, who won his sixth contest last year with a painting of redheads in high waves. Hautman’s acrylic painting will ..read more

After two days of competition, Joseph Hautman of Plymouth, Minn., emerged as the winner of the 2022 Federal Duck Stamp Art Contest with his painting of three tundra swans flying over a wetland. The announcement was made via live stream at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Headquarters in Falls Church, Virginia. This is his sixth win of the prestigious contest. Hautman’s acrylic painting will be made into the 2023-2024 Federal Migratory Bird Hunting and Conservation Stamp, or “Duck Stamp”, which will go on sale in late June 2023. The Service produces the Federal D ..read more

WASHINGTON — A bay-breasted warbler weighs about the same as four pennies, but twice a year makes an extraordinary journey. The tiny songbird flies nearly 4,000 miles between Canada’s spruce forests and its wintering grounds in northern South America. “Migratory birds are these little globetrotters,” said Jill Deppe, the senior director of the migratory bird initiative at the National Audubon Society. A new online atlas of bird migration, published on Thursday, draws from an unprecedented number of scientific and community data sources to illustrate the routes of about 450 bird species in the ..read more

State Game and Fish Department migratory bird biologists expect a fall flight of ducks from North Dakota similar to 2007, 2008 and 2017. To bring that forecast closer to home, the fall flight is anticipated to be about 26% above last year’s fall flight, based on observations from the Department’s annual mid-July duck production survey. According to Mike Szymanski, Department migratory game bird management supervisor, the Department’s 75th annual breeding duck survey conducted in May showed an index of 3.4 million ducks in the state. This year’s breeding duck index was the 23rd highest in ..read more

Ducks Unlimited Reports Memphis, Tenn. —The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on Friday released its report on 2022 Waterfowl Population Status, based on surveys conducted in May and early June by FWS, Canadian Wildlife Service (CWS) and other partners. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the last FWS duck breeding population survey was released in 2019. Total populations were estimated at 34.2 million breeding ducks in the traditional survey area, 12 percent lower than 2019’s estimate of 38.9 million and 4 percent below the long-term average (since 1955). This graphic, provided by Ducks Unlimit ..read more

MADISON, Wis. – The Wisconsin DNR announced the annual spring surveys of Wisconsin ruffed grouse and pheasant showed below-average counts. By contrast, the results of the spring waterfowl breeding survey indicate good numbers and excellent habitat conditions for migratory birds. DNR wildlife biologists reported a 5% decrease statewide in ruffed grouse drumming activity from 2021. “These results are not surprising. Ruffed grouse typically follow a 10-year population cycle,” said Brian Dhuey, DNR wildlife surveys specialist. “While we don’t have data for 2020 due to COVID-19 restrictions, w ..read more