Diving ducks migrate through Upper Miss Refuge in the hundreds of thousands.

The fall waterfowl use numbers have been analyzed and there was a substantial increase in waterfowl use on the Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge.   

Biologist Lisa Reid commented, “If you were lucky enough to be out on the refuge on October 28, 2008 you would have seen rafts of canvasbacks to the tune of 369,000 birds – one of the highest on record.  We counted 270,000 just on Pool 9 alone.” 

Each fall the Refuge conducts weekly aerial waterfowl surveys during migration. 

“Last year we began September 30, prior to the opening of the duck hunting season, and ended December 10, shortly after freeze-up in the backwaters,” she said.

It takes three different flight crews to count refuge waterfowl. The Refuge crew covers Wabasha, MN to Genoa, WI, Wisconsin DNR covers from De Soto, WI to Dubuque, IA, and the Illinois Natural History Survey covers from Massey, IA to Albany, IL.  

Each survey follows a set number of transects or lines that remain constant year to year.    Reid commented, “These surveys are not all-inclusive counts, but rather indices of the number of birds present on the Refuge.”                                                                                      

Refuge Manager Don Hultman remarked, “I'm always interested in what the numbers tell us.  At 25% over the 15-year average, the 2008 numbers say the refuge is providing critical feeding and resting areas for waterfowl during migration, which bodes well for their health when they arrive on their wintering grounds.” 

“Tundra swans peaked at almost 32,000 birds with many of those concentrating near Brownsville, Minnesota. This is much higher than 2007, when we only had a peak of 23,000 birds,” Reid said.

Diving ducks which include canvasbacks, scaup, and ring-necked ducks, made up 70% of the total waterfowl use on the refuge.  A majority of the birds (60%) were found on the river stretch between Lansing, Iowa and Lynxville, Wisconsin (Pool 9).   Other popular stretches included Pools 7, 8, and 13 accounting for 32% of diving duck use.

Puddle ducks which include mallards, gadwall, pintail, and blue-winged teal also concentrated in Pools 7, 8, 9, and 13.  Reid commented, “Mallards typically make up more than half of the puddle duck use and this year was no different.  For the past three years a quarter of the birds have been gadwalls.”

Waterfowl numbers on the refuge can fluctuate widely from year to year due to a variety of reasons including food availability, habitat conditions, and weather.  

Reid said, “This year we had good food and habitat, and the weather cooperated so we could capture the peak migration during the flights.”