Duck banding excursion entertains and educates
By ALLAN TINKER
On a pleasant Wednesday sunny morning on Sept. 10, Ducks Unlimited held a duck banding session for Goodrich School children, grades one through six. With Rick Warhurst, DU Remote Supervisor and Manager of Conservation Programs, Dakotas and Central Flyway leading the information presentation, the students were able to take a firsthand look at the trapping, banding and release of pintails and mallards in the Prairie Pothole Region that they all call home. Assisted by banding crew member Mary Casady and crew leader Dustin Casady, Warhurst explained the relevance of the banding program, including the nesting numbers, destinations and mortality rates of the two species of ducks common to the Coteau Ranch area, where the lessons were located. A set of maps showed where banded ducks had been tracked, as far as South America, Cuba, and Canada, and many points in-between.
