Marsh Count

Hmmm, 1-2-3-4-5-6 Canadian Geese, 1-10-25 American White Pelicans. Today is rainy and cool. Only supposed to get to be a high in the middle 50's. I'd send some cooler temps south to our friends there if I could so the hunts wouldn't be so steamy... Passed the Marsh going into town , decided to take a bird count after going home to get the binoculars and a couple of my Bird Identification books. Really nothing spectacular to see. Didn't stick around for hours to see if the population would change. The pelicans did seem to tuck their heads more as the rain fell more briskly. Later today I am planning another check to see if the waterfowl have taken the chance to head off or will stay to wait out the weather...

Iowa's Waterfowl Opening Dates

A week ago I saw a Goose/Duck hunter attaching some prairie grass camouflage on the side of his boat in preparation for opening day...I was thinking"YES, not that far away from my seasons now!" In doing a little research here on Waterfowl Hunting - My what I am finding! Not usually a focus of mine since I elect to stick to the home property. Classifications are in order here when it comes to season dates,zones and limits in the state. Following I have included a link to specific information of interest to steer those resident and non-resident hunters to the right water hole ; ) - http://www.iowadnr.com/law/files/07waterfowlregs.pdf There is a marsh located to the north of us. It won't be much use this year for waterfowl hunting. It used to be a wake up call when the guns started going off on the opening day of the seasons. The IDNR decided to drain it to remove some big bottom feeding fish so the vegetation would have a chance to re-establish. So far they haven't closed the dam yet to fill the pool. They believe it will improve the food source for our migratory birds to remove the fish. However, the Pelicans have used it as a stop in their migrations ever since we have lived in the area. Probably because of what had been an abundant source of fish. Time will prove or disprove the kind of habitat most accepted by the species traveling through to the north/south. Best be getting the camera out here to start catching all the "V's" overhead...