Migration Alert: Late Rains Improve Habitat, Increasing Optimism in Chesapeake Region

The beginning of a new waterfowl season in the Chesapeake Bay region and eastern North Carolina is always a time of optimism as waterfowlers finish brushing blinds, touching up decoys, and praying for northern states to get blasted early and often with frigid weather.

Ducks Unlimited staff, state waterfowl biologists, and refuge managers offer a little insight into what they’ve been seeing before early hunting seasons get under way.

“I’ve heard limited reports of birds trickling in. Blue-winged teal have moved through the peninsula, and some greenwings are still hanging around” says Jake McPherson, DU managing director of development.

He notes that early to mid-summer was dry in much of Virginia and Maryland. “This is usually a negative for onshore managed habitats, where you probably don’t have much water in your wetlands if you don't have a well,” McPherson says. “Conversely, spring and summer drought can sometimes boost submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV) production in the bay, because there is less runoff to cloud waterways, which prevents sunlight from reaching grasses. So, we can possibly expect more birds using tidal habitats early on.”

In the Old Dominion, state waterfowl biologist Ben Lewis, with the Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources, explains that predictions can be tough early in the season, but recent weather and banding operations offer some insights.

“Our habitat conditions in the eastern part of the state are pretty dry, although we got more rain than expected from the recent hurricane,” Lewis says.

Wood ducks appeared to be fewer in number during the spring breeding survey, Lewis notes, but good numbers of birds were captured during preseason banding efforts, and a good number of the woodies that were captured for banding were recently hatched birds.

“I know some hunters got some action during the early teal season, and hopefully, a few will still be around for our next early waterfowl season coming up October 11–14,” Lewis says.

Kayla Harvey is the Maryland Department of Natural Resources’ new waterfowl program manager. She reports that many hunters had good luck during the September resident goose season. Harvey worries that the hot, dry summer may have been problematic for wood duck broods but, like in Virginia, the Maryland team banded good numbers of juvenile birds in late summer.

“Most natural freshwater habitats in Maryland are still quite dry and will benefit from some rainfall,” Harvey says. “We hope cold weather will push birds south for the regular duck season, and we expect Atlantic Population Canada geese to begin arriving in numbers in early October, with larger groups arriving later in the fall.” 

McPherson echoes Harvey’s sentiments about the weather, which always plays a major role in waterfowl distribution and hunting success in the Chesapeake region. “I hope recent cool temperatures are an indication that we may have more traditional winter weather, which will hopefully push more birds into the Chesapeake than in recent years,” he said.

Ed Farley serves as DU’s manager of conservation programs in Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia. He traveled to eastern North Carolina in September and reports that several of the refuges he visited have good food resources. Dry early summer conditions led to good moist-soil plant growth in many managed wetlands, and wet late-summer weather started filling some wetlands. But, he adds, the dry June weather hurt many corn crops, which could impact Canada goose hunting in some places.

“Lake Mattamuskeet and Alligator River National Wildlife Refuges have good food in their impoundment areas, although the SAV on Lake Mattamuskeet continues to be subpar,” Farley continues.

Brian Van Druten, US Fish and Wildlife Service biologist at the Pea Island and Alligator River refuges in North Carolina, largely confirms Farley’s observations. 

“For Pea Island, we worked hard this summer during the drought to keep water pumped into the three impoundments to allow for SAV production. Later this week we will start official inventory of our SAV, but riding around the impoundments, we can see production appears to have been average to above average,” Van Druten says. “We conducted our first two fall surveys on September 12 and September 27. The first survey found nine species of waterfowl and a total of 611 birds, with Canada geese and blue-winged teal being the most numerous. We also had 74 northern pintails in the mix. The second survey saw a spike in waterfowl numbers, with 1,424 birds utilizing the impoundments. Northern pintails were the most numerous at 730 birds, followed by American black ducks, Canada geese, and blue-winged teal. Eleven different waterfowl species were seen in all.”

Conditions also sound favorable at Alligator River, with corn, rice, and moist-soil vegetation in the impoundments. Van Druten reports that habitat managers are evaluating corn production in areas where it will be left for waterfowl. They are also preparing to flood the remaining impoundments. Mowing will be conducted in moist-soil impoundments to provide open areas for birds to land and allow for easier ground surveys. Van Druten expects all impoundments to be flooded by mid-November. Ground surveys of waterfowl populations are planned every 10 days, and a round of aerial surveys will be conducted in January.