Bow River

[Birddog]

was out yesterday under the glenmore bridge with the fly rod caught a couple of small bows, but I counted at least a dozen dead ducks in the water, is this common or just so many ducks around they are just dying off.

 

[SanJuanWorm]

Cold weather and starvation gets em every year. There is a huge amount of ducks as of late.

[SilverDoctor]

It does happen every winter around this time of year as the amount food becomes less. The birds are usually packed together so often succumb to a variety of problems including disease. Late in the winter some run out of their fat supplies and eat things that are not right for them.

[dekkard2019]

A C.O. told me it is avian cholera. They are eating each others' poop and they croak. Nasty. It doesn't affect other animals like the coyotes who are probably high-fiving each other...eating yummy duck and geese nightly. Me and a buddy saw a huge dead owl one day...probably from eating a duck. Crappy.

 

[Nick0Danger]

That is why, we all should take up duck hunting. I believe they sold 25000 waterfowl licenses last season. They are even try to get states that our birds migrate though to increase there daily duck limits.

[fish4trout]

Shouldnt have anything to do with starvation as the birds fly out to fields to feed. I'd guess the ducks die when it is -30 and there is a foot of snow in all the fields. Your just finding what was frozen under an ice shelf.

Nick, if you want to try and do something positive try and get hunting opened up in the city limits. Later in the hunting season, when everything else is frozen the birds that are roosting on the bow dont even leave the city limits. The city limits extend so far, they are out into farm country. These birds dont need to migrate anymore...open water and food all year round and no hunting pressure.

[Nick0Danger]

Would never happen in canada people are afraid of guns. In the states quite a few cities have parks hunts, from deer to birds they will have a draw and close a park for a few days of the week for a month, and the results have been quite positive apperently. Last i rememeber policemans is legal to hunt see many husks from shottys down there, i pick em up for the people that get caught in the moment running to go get there ducks.

[fish4trout]

Would never happen in canada people are afraid of guns. In the states quite a few cities have parks hunts, from deer to birds they will have a draw and close a park for a few days of the week for a month, and the results have been quite positive apperently. Last i rememeber policemans is legal to hunt see many husks from shottys down there, i pick em up for the people that get caught in the moment running to go get there ducks.

 

Actually, I know for a fact winnipeg has opened up hunting inside the city limits (the perimeter) but only to manitoba residents. Bow only for big games, but mainly opened it up to try and get some geese to leave the city. I'm not talking about urban hunting here, but when the city limits extend for 10km's once the houses stop....

[troutfriend]

If you watch closely you can see ducks flying over the bridge (some species go over, some go under) and if a truck or something spooks them they alter their flight path and end up flying right into the power lines located to the north of the Glenmore bridges. If they break a wing they will go find a place to die on the gravel bar to the north of the bridges.

More often in low or poor light conditions.