By Mike Alaimo, Lead AWA Volunteer
This article originally appeared in Wisconsin Waterfowl Association’s October 2019 Volunteer eNewsletter.
Regular season has started and it is very reminiscent of last fall’s conditions. Water levels have jumped sharply and where you might have driven an ATV previously, it is now 4 (or more) feet under water. This added water has definitely dispersed the birds and made scouting a must.
It was scouting and some quick permission gathering that led me to a waist-high water exploit into what used to be a hay field. The morning was full of unexpected encounters, from a raccoon that seemed confused by our canoe laying over its trail, to a wader leak wake-up, to seeing a small mouse swimming in open water, to gobs of spiders clinging onto the high country of a tall weed… The most unexpected encounter, however, was witnessing the rather slow process of realizing your hunting buddy of over 30 years just shot a tremendous drake wood duck with a band. Two bucket items with one bird. It definitely made for a special day.
This event had me thinking about conservation in general. It was not long ago that the wood duck was hit hard by a lack of habitat and over harvest. Their numbers are hard to track due to their elusive nature, and the inability to get good counts, which complicates their management. Recently, we have seen the bag limit increase for this species, which is an excellent sign of progress towards their numbers.
If it were not for volunteers, we may not have had this success. The spring detail to deploy and maintain wood duck boxes seems like only a pebble on the beach, but if each neighbor does it, and their neighbors, and so on, we can be impactful. Conservation efforts, such as banding, helps us to understand migration patterns and other useful information, which a lucky few get to for volunteer for each year.
The success that we felt this weekend was a testament to us all. We have picked up the torch from those that pioneered the conservation efforts that allowed such an opportunity. It makes me proud of our efforts volunteering each spring and summer to enact change and to keep populations healthy for years to come.
I want to thank everyone that has helped this last year on all of our various volunteer programs! We are making a difference!