Waterfowl Finding Plenty of Habitat to Spread Out

Waterfowl Finding Plenty of Habitat to Spread Out

Ducks in the state, but not in big bunches this season

By Jim Harris

j im. harris@ agfc. ar. gov The state was bracing for another wave of moderate rainfall this week, much of it expected in the southern half the state, on top of what has fallen throughout the late fall and early winter in providing migrating waterfowl with plenty of room to spread out around The Natural State.

Observations from a number of sources indicated sporadic waterfowl numbers in many areas, although high numbers were cited in a few spots, particularly in the Delta area and north of Interstate 40.

Large numbers of snow geese and a few ducks were observed Jan. 1 in the northeast corridor of the state south of Walnut Ridge to an area around Tuckerman along U.S.

Highway 67. A sizable number of ducks were seen around the L’Anguille River in eastern Arkansas on private land.

Arkansas Game and Fish Commission biologists were scheduled to conduct their third state aerial survey of the waterfowl season next week. The most recent survey, in early December, returned an estimated count of 1.2 million ducks in the Arkansas Delta region, with more than half of those being mallards. Totals were slightly lower than recent averages. Waterfowl counts from southwest Arkansas and the Arkansas River Valley also were down from long-term averages for December.

The National Weather Service expected rainfall would increase from the south and spread over central and southern Arkansas throughout Wednesday, though the only freezing conditions were forecast for portions of the Ouachita Mountains near the Arkansas-Oklahoma border. Rain was forecast to build back to the northern part of the state on Thursday, with rain continuing through Thursday night. The forecast called for 1-2 inches of rainfall south of Little Rock. Dry and milder conditions were forecast for the weekend statewide.

Arkansas’s third split of the 60-day waterfowl season continues through Sunday, Jan. 27. The second of two youth waterfowl hunt days is Saturday, Feb. 2.

A good go-to guide for identifying ducks — if you can find them this season, with flocks spread out across the state.

Photo courtesy of AGFC