PA Program Page 3

Conservation Partners Rally on Butler County Farm On the Armstrong Farm in Butler County, Ducks Unlimited and the USDA- NRCS partnered to restore over 1,500 feet of riparian forest buffer, four acres of wetland, and four acres of native warm season grasses. Owners John and Kathy Allen turned to DU’s Habitat Stewardship Program to realize their dreams of creating a working farm in harmony with nature. Economically, the project would have been impossible without the help of Ducks Unlimited.
Great Lakes Mallard Study Last spring, Ducks Unlimited. Inc launched a major study to determine the limiting factors of mallards breeding in the Great Lakes area. We are interested in understanding the factors that limit mallards in this area for several reasons. First, the number of breeding mallards in the Great Lakes states has increased significantly in the past 30 years. These locally produced birds account for the majority of the mallards harvested in the fall in the Great Lakes states. Second, production (as measured by age ratios from the fall harvest) has declined in recent years. Finally, habitat conservation programs in the Great Lakes states have depended upon information gained from the prairies. This information is likely not correct for the Great Lakes region for several reasons: different wetland and upland habitats that are very diverse, different threats such urbanization, and highly impacted landscapes. It may be increase and sustain mallard populations in the Great Lakes States if we understand the limiting factors that restrain further population growth and contribute to declines in production in the Great Lakes States. This spring our sites will be in the NE corner of Indiana, north of Battle Creek MI, and near Shiocton WI. To document reproductive parameters, we use abdominally implanted radios and telemetry techniques To study nesting effort, clutch size, hatch success, brood survival, and hen survival. Additionally, we determine the success of mallard nesting and brood-rearing in different habitat types. Be sure to follow the study this year at www.ducks.org
	This female was trapped (at T) on April 18, 2001 and nested the very next day (N). Her nest was visited on May 2nd and discovered with 14 eggs! Unfortunately, a predator destroyed the nest on May 11th. After her nest was destroyed she moved around a lot (green line) and then disappeared for over a month. Eventually, she was found during a telemetry flight over the middle of a roadless area where we could not detect her signal from the ground. On July 4th, we found her in the nest with 7 ducklings that had just hatched only hours before (N2). The purple lines show the movements she mode with her ducklings, of which she fledged 4 of the7.

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