| WOOD DUCK PROJECT MAKING OVERTIME WORK By Darold Givens Every year when I do the wood duck project, I can never predict what kind of season it will be. Early on this year the birds were very slow in selecting boxes in which to lay their eggs. My crew and I went up last week to what I thought would be a trip to close out the project for the year. What we found was a late resurgence of nesting activity. Boxes that were not used for months became occupied. Now I am not complaining, just confused. I will gladly make another trip to the field and do an accounting of all the new nests. A month ago I looked for nesting hens to be able to capture and band. I had 25 bands given to me by C. W. A. and we were able to use all the bands. This always amazes me because every year I band 25 hens and I expect to find more banded birds in the nest than un-banded birds. This year there were only six. I have not done my paperwork yet but with 126 boxes in the field, I hope to exceed one thousand baby wood ducks. We also were able to replace many old boxes this year and where we removed one box, we added two since we mount two boxes to a pole. Due to a good rainy season and a shorter hot season, the birds are doing nicely. I will have a full report if and when the birds let me. |
| Darold's Wood Duck Project |
| Foster City Rod and Gun Club |
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| Click on picture to enlarge |