Is Manitoba going to produce big numbers?
In the fall of 2016 we received a record setting amount of rain which definitely helped the spring water levels of the potholes, which in turned made for some prime nesting habitat. The nest counts completed by Delta Waterfowl in May of this year were above average and June was an absolute spectacle of a hatch.
Now summer is extremely critical time of year for us being that if we have a wet summer the potholes remain full which then gives the migration thousands of options for water. What we like is for a fairly dry summer to reduce the amount of potholes just enough to concentrate birds so we have bigger numbers hitting the fields. Although the number one important part of this game is the farmers, we need them to be successful. So far the crops look good minus some fungus and being a tad on the dry side it looks like it might be a high yield year for them.
As a conclusion I would say we are sitting in a perfect situation for probably one of the best years we’ve seen in a long time.
