Live Birds, Guns, Duck Bands

This morning, Camp Canvasback kids are going to the J Morgan Futch Waterfowl Impoundment. The "Futch" as it is called, is a strictly managed wterfowl feeding area...they grow crops, flood them, birds land, swim, and eat every winter. US Fish and Wildlife Scientists are banding the birds so that they can track them....each bird gets a small metal "ring" around the ankle...when (if) the bird is harvested by a hunter, the hunter calls in the phone number and gets to find out how old the bird is, where and when it was banded. The USFWS gets to know how far the bird migrated after it's banding...cool stuff....I harvested a banded wood duck last year...it was banded right here in Columbia, though...no long trip for the bird. Some Northern Pintails have been recovered in Mississippi that were originally banded in Japan...that is quite a flight!

Nevertheless - Kevin Briggs of Noah's Ark Waterfowl brought some specimens from his waterfowl farm...Kevin is one of the nicest guys in the history of the world...and he is a state highway patrolman...quite a combo. He even helps the folks at the Cornell Bird Lab - the holy grail of bird research!

He brough native and foreign birds like: Redheads, gadwall, wood duck, and a ruddy duck...foreign birds like the brazilian teal and white-faced tree duck were very interesting, too! It's one of my favorite parts of Camp Canvasback...I even talked hunting with Mr. Briggs - he told me his favorite spot is in Canada...I wasn't sure where that was - he says its a little north of here...I don't blame him for wanting to tell me his best places, though.

Shotgunning has been intense under the guise of David Denton, Hunter Education Specialist for the North Carolina Wildlife Resoiurce Commission in District 1....they don't call it District 1 for nothing...David is a great instructor and kids are learning safe shooting technique.

Here are pics from last nights duck id course: