Question For All The Oldtimers

At least there is a new treatment plant being brought on line as we speak that should take care of the future but unfortunatly there is not much we can do about the past. I have noticed that due to some nasty east storms we have had especially in the spring there is a lot less muck and seaweed around the outer edge of the marsh but where Big Creek dumps her load there is still a fair amount of wild rice. It would take an epic storm to push all that crud back onto the Causeway !
 
I think that someone produced a work in the late '80s (I'm too lazy to look it up) that looked at sediment movement in relation to agriculture on Big Creek. I think that he found that there wasn't an increase associated with agriculture- I think that he looked at changes in some bit of pollen in the muck that would indicate the establishment of agriculture adjacent to the creek. Anyway, contrary to popular belief, I don't think that he found that a significant amound of sediment was getting to the Creek because of agriculture (but I could re-read it someday)...
 
quote:
Originally posted by danboone

What were your best years at the point as far as numbers of birds? Not necessarily birds shot but birds seen. Was it the 50's, 60's, 70's, 80's or maybe now. I know a lot of you have hunted here many years or have fathers or grandfathers that have,so lets here some stories of years gone by. Personally I have been hunting Long Point since the early 90's but I wonder how it was prior to that.
Happy New Year



Sorry DanBoone. Didn't mean to hijack your post.

Gryphon Hunter; I will agree to disagree ? LoL ! As LPGar stated that "The head of the Bay is dying very rapidly." It certainly has changed alot at the mouth of Big Creek with the delta growing there constantly as proved by the wild rice that extends out into the Inner Bay. The Cans(and Widgeon) thrived on the wild celery that grew there. I can only suppose that the "silting in" has deterred it's growth. Also divers prefer not to have grass in front of them.
 
Thirteen years ago was the first time I hunted at the unit, and there were hardly any ruddy ducks and buffleheads then. Mostly mallards, bluebills and widgeon. The past few years, as I have jotted down in my hunting log, there were steady rise of ruddies, buffies and redheads in the crown marsh. I havenot seen much widgeons, or canvasback since then. It seemed to me that the change of the marsh due to enroachment of cattails and other invasive plants, and distruption of the ecosystem from human settlements have forced these prized birds to reloacte to other places like Lake St Clair where there are more canvasbacks congregate because of avialablity of wild celery and other edible plants? What I am saying is that ruddies and buffies come down here in large numbers is because of the different food they liked there? I know the redheads and bluebills frequently eat there but they tended to sit way out in the middle of the bay where there probably good food for them to forge? What ae they eaing in the deep bay, I wonder?
 
Yes, that too. A few years ago, Duck Unlimited magazine had a front page of Long Point scenery and stated that it boasted large number of canvasback. But today there aren't very many. I wonder if anyone ever plant seedlings of wild celery around the marsh? Would that help or it is not allowed?
 
We had Cans in the Inner Bay but it was just before X-mas. I saw 2 large rafts to the east of our cottage that stretched south from #17 over to the mouth of the marinas[Dickenson Creek ?]. The weather screwed up our season this year big time !

I believe Dr. Scott Petrie and his team at Long Point Wetlands and Waterfowl Research Foundation have done studies regarding food(s) intake and availability on ducks that frequent the area. I know there was concern over the Bluebills ingesting zebra mussels and high rates of selenium that may be affecting their reproduction.Lots of good info at their website !

I miss the bird count reports of when they did their aerial survey's.
 
Cellery likes deeper and clearer water than the Marsh provides. Another thing to look at is the spread of yet another invasive foreign plant that has all but taken over the marsh. Chana weed. Huge problem in the channels and I think is just about choking out all of the benefical plants in the inner marsh. Cellery loves the same conditions that Milfoil and Large leaf Cabage love. Lots still out in the middle of the Bay but Not so much in the head of the bay or Coletta bay these days. Just more conditions that have changed in the last decade to change the ducks Useage patterns for the Bay.
 
This thread has been very interesting and there has been a great exchange of ideas and information. I have really enjoyed following the discussion on the best years of hunting LP and the changing ecology of the bay.

I have read that zebra muscles have really helped clean up Lake St Clair. I wonder if that has shifted the preference of the birds to there.

Paul
 
Lake St. Clair is just about choked with birds compaired to Long Point. It is west of here...so the birds get to it first. Much more sactuary as compaired to the Inner Bay and is a huge salad bar of yummy greens that Ducks love. The water clearing from the Zebra Muscles has definately contributed to it. An average water depth that is both perfect for aquatic vegetation growth and diver feeding also makes it perfect for the Birds. Cans in particular because they migrate later than Redheads have chosen to stay in Lake St. Clair but the Upper Pools of the Mississippi now hold almost the total North American migrant population of Canvasbacks for the whole of Duck Season. They freeze later and later every year due to "Global Warming". Keep in mind the Can population is less than Half of the Continental Population of Redheads.
 
Hello Danboone,

I may be repeating some of what Lpgar has previously stated but here are some numbers regarding the Canvasback and Redhead populations:

Apparently about 25% of the continental Canvasback population migrates through Lake St. Clair and Long Point on the way to their wintering areas along the Atlantic Coast compared to about 75% that migrates down the Mississippi River ... so we can only expect to see a small fraction of the total population. If the habitat conditions are better in Lake St. Clair (as Lpgar has already indicated) then we will either not see as many Canvasbacks or we will not see them at Long Point for as long as they "stage" before moving on their way further south.

The 2011 breeding Canvasback population was estimated at 692,000 (up 18% from 2010 and up 21% from the long term average).

The 2011 breeding Redhead population was estimated at 1,356,000 (up 27% from 2010 and up 106% from the long term average).

Factor in the later migration of Canvasbacks (as Lpgar has already indicated) and the results are what you have seen.

Jerome Katchin, D.V.M.

PS A few years back the Canvasback breeding population was about 990,000 and the Redhead breeding population was about 1,100,000.
 
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