Mallards Abound In North Basin

The northern portion of the Columbia Basin was the place to be in the last weeks of the waterfowl hunting season, according to aerial survey results compiled last week.

“We had mallards coming out of our ears,” said Matt Monda, Washington Fish and Wildlife Department waterfowl specialist in Ephrata.

Midwinter surveys conducted throughout the Pacific Flyway during the first week of January counted about a million mallards in the Columbia Basin. Most of the birds were from the Moses Lake area north.

“That’s the most birds we’ve counted in the past 20 years for sure, and it might be the biggest number ever,” Monda said.

For comparison, only 70,000 mallard were counted in the north basin last year in the first week of January, he said. The count for the entire state was 547,000.

“It’s all weather related,” he said, noting that harsh conditions did not develop to force the bulk of the birds south to the Tri-Cities area. “We might see that many birds in November or December, but never in January. The ducks liked the mild, wet weather.”

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will compile state agency numbers from throughout the flyway to determine whether duck populations are up or down.

Poor hunting at the private Eagle Lakes area forced waterfowling guides to make hasty fee-hunting arrangements with landowners in northern areas, Monda said.

“We counted 100,000 mallards on a wetland area near Wilson Creek,” Monda said. “That’s unheard of.

“Even late in the season, it was like hunting opening day in the north basin.”

Idaho’s midwinter count found a different scenario.

Mallards were less abundant than last year, but more geese stayed in the state. A lot of those, however, were unavailable to hunters.

The Idaho Fish and Game Department reports that 23 percent of the wild geese in southwest Idaho were found within Boise’s city limits.

Numbers of dabbling ducks were down from last year by 15 percent in Idaho. The count included 257,429 mallards. Diving ducks were up by 109 percent with the highest count being 23,589 redheads. The goose total was 66,389, up 14 percent.