The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has released its preliminary report on mid-continent breeding ducks, a report that shows a 13 percent increase from a year ago. The survey estimates there are now 42 million breeding ducks compared with 37.3 million in 2008. This number is a 25 percent increase over the 1955-2008 long-term average.
The increase was attributed to extensive grassland cover and ample precipitation in the prairie and parkland areas of Canada and the north-central United States. Surveyors counted 6.4 million ponds, 46 percent more than a year ago.
Prospects were not so good in the western portions of the prairie pothole region, the breeding area for ducks that migrate along the western edge of the Rockies. Southern Alberta showed a 19 percent decrease in ponds.
Surveyors were particularly buoyed by a 10 percent increase in mallards, the bedrock for duck prospects. The survey numbers appear at right, measured in millions.
Dining for recovery.
A dining experience to benefit Reel Recovery, a program for men with cancer, is scheduled for Tuesday at Fish City Grill, 8433 Park Meadows Center Drive.
Reel Recovery provides a fly-fishing orientated retreat. For more information about the day-long event, phone 303-643-0224.
Mussels found.
Inspectors have found both quagga and zebra mussels on the transom and motor mount of a pontoon boat entering Navajo State Park.
The boat, inspected June 20, was immediately decontaminated by park inspectors using 250 gallons of water heated to more than 140 degrees. The owner had purchased the boat recently from dry storage near Arizona’s Lake Pleasant, a place known to be infected with the mussels.
