You could call it an odd duck, the INHS’s final winter aerial waterfowl survey

We flew the IL and central MS Rivers on Monday January 9th, 2023. Our first flight of 2023, the midwinter inventory, will be our last winter flight of this season. The slightly warmer temperatures over the last week have things opening up along both rivers. Goose Lake held most of our ducks along the IRV this week, while Dardenne carried most of the abundance along the CMRV. Some of the ducks that sought open water elsewhere in the CMRV during the brutal cold at the end of 2022, found their way back onto the refuges this week. I estimated 63,350 ducks in the IRV this week, still significantly below the 10-year average for this river (-53%, 134,265). I estimated 137,895 ducks along the central MS river this week, an increase from last week, but still significantly below the 10-year average (174,993; -21%) for this river. My guess from last week was somewhat validated as birds redistributed as things opened up along the central MS River. I was a little surprised to see so many canvasbacks along Pool 19 this week. While it isn’t abnormal to see here them this late, the ice coverage had seemingly pushed them all out of our area a couple of week ago.