Recharging the ole batteries

On December 7th, 2011 at 11:00pm bandtaker1 said:

Any progress with fixing the rice levee in Field 1? And is Mingo planning on letting the water out of the wade and shoot to repair something? Is Unit A opening up any time this year? I am sure with all the rain NO WORK is being done there at this time.

On November 18th, 2011 at 9:24am frank said:

If you go back to the main Duck Creek blog page and scroll down, on September 28th we posted this year’s mast survey.  In short, it looks like we had another good year of acorns.

On November 17th, 2011 at 6:20pm Anonymous said:

How was this years acorn crop? Look forward to doing some pool 8 wading, almost as excited for pool 8 to open as I was for opening day. And by the way DC has been much more exciting this year with all the spots available, without reservations, everyone having a fair chance at the draw.

On November 16th, 2011 at 7:01pm Anonymous said:

otter slough can hold 44,000 on 4,500 acres while mingo with all its diversity holds 19,000 birds on 10,000 plus acres of duck habitat ? .i believe in moist soils and habitats other than row crops, but i think you need to look back more than ten years. if i am not mistaken it was about the mid nineties that the creek started to fall off, about the same time that mingo started a more "natural" approach. im sure mingo is in better hands now but i can't help but be depressed when i see less than 100 birds using company farm. especially when the creek has no fields in use and the only refuge is pool 1. monoply must be awesome because the birds are not leaving it.

On November 15th, 2011 at 9:14am frank said:

That is our intention. We've still got a lot of ground to cover, but that is the plan.

On November 14th, 2011 at 9:30pm Anonymous said:

Thanks for the answers. So next year units A and B will be back in buisness or will they still be under construction?

On November 14th, 2011 at 5:23pm frank said:

Over the last 3 years, Mingo has done a wonderful job of drying things out in Monopoly and Rockhouse during the growing season for moist soil production and to control the American lotus. This strategy, combined with managing shallow water depths more appropriately for foraging waterfowl in the fall, has been reflected in bird use. Because of the 2011 spring flood, the spring draw down of Company Farms and other areas on the refuge was delayed, which affected the plant responses in different locations.  Mingo staff continuously monitors the units and spray, disk, mow, or plant millet to combat the cocklebur and other undesirable wetland plants. I can’t speak for all of these smaller units, but I did personally sample the moist soil in Unit 3. It looked great. There was a diverse stand of millet, smartweed, and sedges throughout the pool; ideal duck food. Also Moist Soil Unit 2N was planted to Japanese millet later in the season and was coming on strong in September as the Mingo staff irrigated it to help the grass mature. There are other great foods, such as toothcup, that can grow under the cocklebur. Toothcup is an annual and thrives after late spring or summer drawdowns. Toothcup provides approximately 600 pounds of duck food per acre, which was found growing this season in some of the units and Rockhouse. If the cocklebur would be sprayed or mowed, it would negatively affect the toothcup in the unit as well. The advantage of having many different units is to provide food or habitat during various stages of waterfowl and shorebird migration. There is no need to flood all of the units simultaneously and some are also dependent on whether the seed sources have matured. Other than the moist soil units, there is other habitat and food available in Monopoly, Rockhouse, and Duck Creek. What is different between the two areas, is that Mingo relies primarily on rainfall to flood, whereas MDC has Pool 1 to store water for the fall. At Mingo, the water levels in the ditches also control some of the units' ability to hold water. The recent rains have helped Mingo’s situation out in this regard.  If you drive through the refuge now, you will see some of the units being flooded and there are plans to flood the other units and Pool 8 soon. Additionally, I looked at Mingo’s current numbers compared to the last 10 years. Their last count was just under 20,000 ducks and these numbers have improved with last week’s weather. Mingo’s 10 year average for this time of year is considerably lower with only 9,500 ducks on average. Despite having a delayed migration this year, Mingo’s habitat and waterfowl numbers are looking pretty good and should continue to improve as the season progresses. Also, Mingo has a Facebook page in case you want to stay informed on what is going on at at Mingo National Wildlife Refuge.

On November 14th, 2011 at 11:20am cordek said:

All the positions at Duck Creek are flooded which can be so the rain will not add any new ones.  There are currently 30 positions between Pools 2 and 3, the three field positions, and two positions in Pool 1 which are available 4 days per week.  Mingo may start flooding Pool 8 this week or next but whenever they decide, we will have water to start flooding.  We have been capturing all the Ditch 111 water and some from the Castor river this past week and can let it go when we get the word.  Dark Cypress may increase from 2 postions to 4 or 6 if we receive substantial rainfall and definitely if the diversion channel overtops the levees.  The contractors are still rolling along in Units A and B installing water control structures and preparing to start pouring concrete for the main outlet structure.

On November 13th, 2011 at 8:15pm Anonymous said:

I was wondering how many positions are going to be available this weekend if we get some rain. Thanks.

On November 12th, 2011 at 5:01pm Anonymous said:

could someone recharge mingo's batteries! company farm is a joke, unless you like cockaburrs. no food and very little water in spots that should hold birds. although there seems to be plenty of food plots for the deer. the least they could do is fill the pools, that are intended for ducks, with water. on the plus side rockhouse marsh did look good