The Ile Camera
A Heritage Newspaper
Weekly Publication
Lending a hand
Waterfowlers groups help look after Downriver's nesting duck population
By Mike Zielinski, The News-Herald
PUBLISHED: March 16, 2007
Like all wildlife, as ducks continue to lose habitat, their numbers will fall.
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Living here in Gibraltar for more than 30 years, I have witnessed this first hand.
With nearly every waterfront residence (mine included) protected by vertical steel seawalls, the birds, especially young birds, have a difficult time getting into and out of the water. This leaves them susceptible to local predators like cats, possums and raccoons.
As a result, we don't have nearly the numbers of wild mallard ducks that we did even 20 years ago. That is why it is so important to have areas like the Detroit River International Wildlife Refuge that continues to provide great habitat and nesting cover.
There are folks out there who make great efforts to somehow keep the nesting and reproduction cycle of ducks going. Generally they are duck hunters themselves, well aware of the threat posed to waterfowl today.
Of all the different categories of hunters out there, none seem to do more for or contribute more money towards their favorite endeavor than duck hunters.
They tend to lead with their money and efforts.
Last Sunday was a cold, raw, late winter morning and the Gibraltar Duck Hunters Association spearheaded a project to install wood duck boxes and mallard nesting tubes across Humbug Marsh near Gibraltar.
They were joined by members of the Downriver Chapter of Ducks Unlimited and the Point Mouillee Waterfowlers.
Steve Dushane of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service worked closely with the GDHA members to coordinate this project.
Winter is the best time to conduct a project like this becaue the frozen conditions allow easy access to otherwise inaccessible habitat like swamps and marshes.
Dushane took the time to go out into the marsh earlier in the week to select and mark preferred nesting locations where the boxes would more likely be utilized by wood ducks and mallards.
His organization also provided the metal stakes used to mount the boxes.
Eleven new wood duck boxes and six new mallard nesting tubes were installed over the course of the day.
Wood ducks are cavity nesting waterfowl and normally nest inside tree cavities, but will readily set up house keeping in artificially manufactured boxes when placed where tree cavities are no longer present.
Mallards are not cavity nesters, but will readily nest in manufactured nesting tubes placed in marsh habitats.
N.A.Mans Lumber in Trenton generously donated the solid cedar planks necessary for the building of the wood duck boxes.
GDHA members Charles, Zachary and Matthew LaCombe cut the cedar planks up and assembled the boxes for the project. Cedar is used when constructing the boxes because it is a long lasting and more rot and insect resistant than other wood.
Each of the boxes has a three-inch by four-inch opening cut into its front, the recommended hole size for Wood Ducks and too small for other cavity nesters to utilize the box.
Each box also has a small piece of chicken wire material attached to its front interior to allow the ducklings something to use as a ladder when it is time for them to climb out of the nest.
The boxes have four inches of cedar bedding placed inside for the hen to lay her eggs in.
The boxes have a side access, which is hinged. Once the birds have flown south for the winter the side access allows for easy cleaning and refilling with bedding material the next nesting season. These side access points also aid in the process of capturing the birds for banding and releasing them for use in waterfowl migration studies.
Mallard nesting tubes are made of 36-inch high chicken wire and bent lengthwise into a 10-inch diameter circle then lined with natural vegetation for nesting material. The tubes are then mounted to four-inch by four-inch poles driven into the marsh bottom for stability.
GDHA member Jeremy Payne donated the sheet metal tubing needed to manufacture predator guards. This eight-inch stove pipe material is cut to length for each specific box or tube and collapsed at its top portion where it is fastened to the mounting pole, and prevents climbing predators from accessing the nest and eating/destroying the eggs or possibly killing the hen wood duck while she incubates the eggs.
The newly installed wood duck boxes and mallard nesting tubes will be monitored over the course of the spring breeding season, which in Michigan encompasses the months of April, May and June.
They will also be checked for hatching results then cleaned and refilled with cedar bedding in preparation for the arrival of next year's nesting birds.
If you are interested in building and putting some of these devices on your own property, there are numerous sketches and designs available on the Internet.
If you would like to support the efforts of groups like the Gibraltar Duck Hunters Association, attend their dinner in May. It will be a dining experience you will not forget.
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