The Rise and Fall of SC's inland gadwalls
To those of you paying attention over the last 5 years, you may have noticed that our inland gadwalls are declining.
I started noticing a substantial increase in birds in the winter of 2009.
In the lean years (2002-2009) gadwalls weren't uncommon, but certainly weren't numerous along inland waterways.
After the drought I was seeing bigger, and more flocks on public water, and from 2009-2014-15 season they were the number one duck in my boat.
Granted I persued them more so than other ducks, but the increase in gadwalls wintering along the Santee Cooper watershed was definite.
We were seeing them everywhere and hunters were killing decent numbers both publicly and privately.
Both the Bluff and Cuddo units of the refuge were swarmed with them. On numerous accounts over several seasons, we have seen them stretch clear across Cantey Bay as well as Black Bottom. Several thousand.
But last season, they weren't as numerous as the season before, and this season they are even more scarce. Some private places around here are still holding a decent amount of birds, but they are just remnants of leftover imprinting.
My theory - vallisneria and southern naiad.
Up to 70% of gadwall's diet globally consists of aquatic vegetation.
While gadwalls numbers have been climbing over the last decade, our increase in wintering birds on the Santee Cooper lakes, has to be directly related to the increase of SAVs in that 09-14 time period.
Due to hard-nosed policies on Crested Floating Heart and Hydrilla, our once 18k acres of native vallisneria and southern naiad was wiped out, and I know that is why our gadwalls are finding somewhere else to winter.
We have got to make it priority and take a stance to demand that native SAVs be brought back to the Santee Cooper lakes.
The entire state will reap the benefits of thousands of acres of habitat centrally located.
Maybe it's a good idea to write a letter to your state reps asking them to support a proviso demanding this habitat be restored.
Be proactive about improving public waterfowl habitat in South Carolina. It's not going to happen by itself, and our help is needed. We have the potential to winter thousands of waterfowl on public grounds if we fight for it.
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