This past weekend my son and I camped out with my Dad and life-long friends from Whitney and Marlin on the banks of a flood control lake. We sure appreciated access to the property, which led to golden fillets for supper.
We looked for movement among the cattails to give away the location of a large mouth bass and while doing so, we observed several birds that frequent wetland areas. Birds, like snowy egrets used their yellow feet as lures to catch fish. Red-winged blackbirds,wove their nests among the long stems of cattail. Mudhens worked the shoreline eating vegetation and aquatic invertebrates and ran on the water to gain flight when we spooked them.
Perhaps the best "dressed" birds we saw were the male blue-winged teal, who were adorned in breeding plumage. These fast flying ducks did not tarry around as did the mudhens. If we got too close they became the masters of flight and relocated to another spot on the lake.
These ducks made me thinking about next duck season and recent correspondence showed that another duck hunter was planning for the fall. Usually, I am behind unless an appointment or task is on my calendar. So, I encourage you to put duck management on your calendar, right now. Doing so will bring the sound of teal streaking through the sky in September.
Question:
I'm looking for information on some grain or seed to put out before next waterfowl season and I was pointed your way. My uncle has a water controlled pond that we want to hunt next season so we are just trying to see where to get started on plants and seed to throw out.
We are trying to find out how long we let the seed sit until we put water back in the pond. And, we are looking for other information needed for waterfowl management. We live in Southeast Texas if that helps out any.
Thanks for the help in advance!
Answer:
Hey Mr.XXXX,
I think several of the answers you seek are in one of our publications called Techniques for Wetland Construction and Management. Take a look and see if you find what you are after. Let me know and we can visit more if you like.
Discussion:
Now, I anticipate visiting more with Mr. XXXX, but let me make sure we understand a few things to keep everyone out of trouble. When Mr. XXXX is talking about throwing some seeds out he means to grow duck food for next fall.
Throwing seeds out for the purpose of attracting waterfowl for hunting is illegal. Know and understand the law regarding this issue as expressed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Here, Mr. XXXX is seeking information on what plants would be beneficial to waterfowl. It is a huge advantage to have control of water on a duck pond. That is, he can manipulate the water level to flood up or draw down as desired. This will allow him to mimic Mother Nature. As we head into summer, ponds will dry naturally. This is a necessary process to allow germination of many wetland plants that will become the food source for ducks in the fall.
His pond probably already has beneficial species like wild celery, pink smartweed, sago pondweed, arrowhead and many sedges. However, if his past water management was wrong, these plants might have done just okay rather than doing great.
Some people farm for waterfowl, planting crops like corn, milo, soybeans, rice, and millet, but to use these, you need to know the law (see the link above). Nature has a wild plant buffet ready to go given the proper management.
For more details, see our publication "Techniques for Wetland Construction and Management". Also see AQUAPLANT for wetland plant identification and management.