Transmitter Mallard Study in TN

[blacktail]

The only thing I got out of this is:
It must suck donkey balls to rely on anything but tides to move ducks.
I agree though, the Mississippi Flyway is the bomb!!!! Y'all got it great

 

[riverrat47]

As I've said before, in the mid-1990s, I was tracking fish and we were on the cutting edge of telemetry work. We had biologists studying all sorts of critters going out with us, just to observe. Compared to the information that can be garnered from these modern transmitters, I feel like Fred Flintstone. We are going to gain more useful information in a decade than we've gained in the last century.
While the work done at the Cohen Lab is interesting, I'd like to see an expansion of trapping locations and species, which I believe was mentioned. I'm sure that shortly there will be numerous similar studies being done or funded by numerous governmental agencies, throughout the county. Cohen's work is definitely groundbreaking, but I'd hesitate to put all my eggs in that one basket. For animals that may migrate thousands of miles, three years' worth of data isn't long enough to draw rock-solid conclusions. The knowledge gained by these and ensuing telemetry studies will definitely create an interesting mosaic of waterfowl migration, which may prove or dispel many preconceived theories on migration.

H2ODAD, as an educated man of science, you are surely aware that due to time constraints MS thesis' are often based on studies of two years or less, and covering a small study area. Yes, it could be based on continuing work done by other MS students, but do we know that? It wasn't mentioned in your blurb.
I'm not trying to discredit the MS student or the thesis, but just like the telemetry study, I want to see a longer data set and a larger study area before I start drawing conclusions.

 

[OneShotBandit]

Thirty years ago hunting a small reservoir in Ohio I would watch the mallards sit on the middle of the lake all day long and rise around sunset and land on the corn fields a half mile behind me. They would return before shooting light.

The only thing that would change this pattern was odd weather and then you might get a crack at them.

Any studies that say they don’t go nocturnal, just indicate the method of study was poorly conducted.

Several counties away we had access to corn fields and the birds sat on private lakes that didn’t allow hunting. We also had to wait on weather events to kill those birds.

I've seen that very same thing here (North Central IN) at the flood control reservoirs. Ducks would tornado into DRY cut corn fields at around sunset!

 

[H20DAD]

H2ODAD, as an educated man of science, you are surely aware that due to time constraints MS thesis' are often based on studies of two years or less, and covering a small study area. Yes, it could be based on continuing work done by other MS students, but do we know that? It wasn't mentioned in your blurb.
I'm not trying to discredit the MS student or the thesis, but just like the telemetry study, I want to see a longer data set and a larger study area before I start drawing conclusions.

I’ve gotten to the point that with any science these days, I first ask, “what is their intended outcome?” Because that will frame everything. I don’t trust the science anymore with pretty much anything.

And in this case, I think most of the science these days is about getting more women into decision making positions. And I think those intentions are for very bad reasons. Because, if you look around this isn’t a man’s world anymore.

 

[Northhunter]

I’ve gotten to the point that with any science these days, I first ask, “what is their intended outcome?” Because that will frame everything. I don’t trust the science anymore with pretty much anything.

And in this case, I think most of the science these days is about getting more women into decision making positions. And I think those intentions are for very bad reasons. Because, if you look around this isn’t a man’s world anymore.

Toxic Masculinity !!

The Vancouver Canucks hired 3 women to their management / analytics department last year. It's been spectacular. They're having a great season. No drama at all

 

[H20DAD]

Toxic Masculinity !!

The Vancouver Canucks hired 3 women to their management / analytics department last year. It's been spectacular. They're having a great season. No drama at all

You lost me at something regarding the evil Canadians…

 

[Northhunter]

They were nocturnal up here this year as well. It had nothing to do with hunting pressure. Just full moons, clear nights and ducks being ducks.

 

[bill cooksey]

Oh, yeah, interesting how their plans always include making themselves bigger. We don't need more refuges, we need less refuges. If you want a duck to act like a duck then quit forking feeding them.

They aren’t buying up land for refuges. It’s a trial using small pieces of private land up and down the rivers. The refuges around me have mostly been there for 50+ years.

They aren’t the part of the equation which has changed.

 

[duckdown1]

I would’ve like to see this same study 20+ years ago. Ducks moved more then I’m sure of it. The long seasons and pressure has changed all that IMO. Seems the ducks around me were in a late to nocturnal pattern the day they arrived. We shot 400+ Mallards out of a dry field pit this year. I’m going to say 95% were after 2 o’clock and 85% were in the last hour. We almost always had birds trying to get in the decoys while picking up. Then could see them pouring into the flooded corn North of our spot while leaving the field. They stayed in that corn all night on most occasions.

 

[waterswatter]

I’ve gotten to the point that with any science these days, I first ask, “what is their intended outcome?” Because that will frame everything. I don’t trust the science anymore with pretty much anything.

And in this case, I think most of the science these days is about getting more women into decision making positions. And I think those intentions are for very bad reasons. Because, if you look around this isn’t a man’s world anymore.

I skimmed thru this thread for the first time just now, and this particular post of yours is the first post that I agree with, without doubt.