Arkansas? Nahh. Maryland...
Pilots and biologists from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Maryland Department of Natural Resources witnessed more than 905,000 waterfowl along Maryland's Chesapeake Bay shoreline and Atlantic coast in January, up 22 percent from the same month in 2013, according to figures released Friday by the DNR.
Biologists attribute the higher count of ducks, swans and geese to the belief that many species flocked to Maryland's portion of the Chesapeake Bay because of severe winter conditions to the north.
Additionally, large areas of the bay and tributaries were ice covered during the survey period, concentrating waterfowl in ice-free, open waters, where they were more easily counted.
The survey estimates for mallards, black ducks and canvasbacks were the highest they have been since the mid-1970s. Overall, dabbling ducks were more abundant this winter (128,000) than last winter (72,800). There were nearly twice as many diving ducks (190,300) as last year (98,100). The canvasback count (68,400) was the highest since the mid-1960s, and far greater than last year (18,400).
Survey teams also observed large numbers of wintering Canada geese (512,100) along the upper Chesapeake Bay. The extensive snow and ice in northern latitudes pushed large numbers of geese south to the Chesapeake from their normal wintering areas in southern Ontario and the Finger Lakes region of New York.
Read more: http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/o...#ixzz2vTfkOI8H
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