Nothing like spring in the Prairie Potholes of Manitoba… It’s a busy time of year for everyone, especially the farmers. With our late spring and frost still coming out of the ground makes for stressful time of year.
Most have until mid June to get thier land seeded before the cut off by insurance. The continual rains we’ve been having has not helped in the slightest but the nesting waterfowl are loving it. Undisturbed nesting habitat is so critical for high success. A year like this one is where the scales can tip very easily. The Pothole Region has as the term states established potholes, but it’s in the spring is where the snow melt and spring rains flood the potholes into the surrounding ag land.. This spring most are flooded a few hundred feet over traditional spring levels.
It’s in the shallow flooded lying areas is where most of the nesting is done. If the weather turns to all sun these areas dry quickly and then that false nesting habitat turns into seeded ag land. This has a great effect on our waterfowl populations. Most fowl will try a second nesting, but the second go around will typically have a high mortality rate. The “late hatch” is raised in the areas where cover is at a minimal and the ground / avian predators capitalize..
So what can we do as the hunter do?
Quit electing governments that think ethanol is the answer and bring back CRP… Support Delta Waterfowl and Ducks Unlimited so they can continue thier programs.
#conservation
