Illinois waterfowl survey totals

Duck totals are slightly above average on the Illinois River, below average on the Mississippi River and low in southern Illinois.

That’s the consensus after Tuesday’s aerial surveys.

The count on the Illinois River was 148,700 ducks, just ahead of the 10-year average of 148,128. That was despite a below average count of 44,045 mallards—well below the average of 73,870. Unusually high numbers of gadwall helped make up the difference.

Major concentrations were at Goose Lake in the upper river (29,650), Douglas Lake (26,975) and Emiquon (48,210). Here’s the complete survey.

Illinois_River_waterfowl_10-20-09.pdf

Duck numbers on the Mississippi River showed just 71,185 birds—well below the average of 91,153. Of those, 19,630 were mallards (vs. 37,343 on average).

The top concentration was at Swan Lake on the lower river (19,870). Here’s the complete survey.

Miss._River_waterfowl_10-20-09_.pdf

Central Illinois showed 4,050 duck and southern Illinois had just 2,390. Here’s that survey.

S._Illinois_waterfowl_10-20-09_.pdf