Delta Waterfowl Sumter

The 2026 North Dakota Breeding Duck Survey results are in.

North Dakota’s breeding duck population declined 9.5% from 2025, while the state’s water index showed slightly drier conditions across the prairie pothole region. Blue-winged teal numbers dropped, while mallards and pintails increased over last spring.

The survey highlights continued dry conditions across key duck-producing habitat and the importance of wetland conservation heading into brood-rearing season.

🔗 Read more: https://deltawaterfowl.org/whats-new/news/north-dakota-breeding-waterfowl-survey-reveals-slightly-drier-conditions-fewer-ducks/

Cleaned up the board and made it easier to read. Everyone check this giveaway out. It is one for the ages for our Delta Chapter. We have talked for years about giving a boat away. Well our 20th year is the one we will do it. Help us Celebrate our 20th Anniversary as a Delta Waterfowl chapter by buying a giveaway ticket for this. If you have questions please reach out to Ben Campbell Jesse Pees Vickie Kehrer Michelle Crider Greg Dubis Dave Bollone David Bass Jamie Bass Justin Voracek Dwayne Durr Gretchen Steele Matt Ward Brian Moyse Scott Terning Garrett Trentham Doug VanBuren

Mallard tracking! This map shows the movements of three Mallard drakes tagged near Lake Marion at the beginning of March. Each color on the map is a different duck. They were captured with a rocket net, banded and measured, and fitted with a solar-powered GPS tag worn as a small backpack between their wings. They’re part of a study aiming to better understand the migration routes of the wild Mallards who winter in South Carolina.

During migration, Mallards fly up to 50mph – or faster with a tailwind! The first of these three ducks to move north set off sometime after midnight two days after he was tagged. By 8am, he had made it to Ohio, and his tag was charging so efficiently as he flew that it started taking extra position fixes (the line of overlapping dots just north of the Ohio border) to avoid damage to its battery from overcharging. He then spent a little over a week at a small wetland in central Ohio before moving on up to Canada. The other two ducks (yellow and blue) spent quite a bit longer on the edge of Lake Marion before setting off on their different routes.

We will open up registration at 5am at the landing. Preregistration ends today. Tell your friends and family to come out. Hope to see everyone there in the morning.

Delta Waterfowl announced a new milestone for its First Hunt program, which has now introduced 100,000 people to duck hunting: https://trib.al/K80gKRp