A crest of feathers off the back of their heads gives the impression of having a larger head. Males have a dark head with a metallic green shine, if sunshine will emphasize its glow, and bold black and white body plumage.

Females have a rusty red set of head feathers. Both males and females have a long orange slender beak, and the beak has serrated edges that work well to hold slippery fishes.

In addition to fish, mergansers will seek out other aquatic prey such as molluscs, crustaceans, worms, insect larvae, and amphibians. These birds dive to find food and do so by eyesight. Large rear placed legs and webbed feet propel the animal while underwater.

Mergansers are tree cavity nesters. For a big bird, the entrance hole needs to be almost six inches in diameter. Those specific requirements can be found in mature boreal forest settings throughout Canada.

They will use artificial nest boxes if the box is proportionately larger than a wood duck box and has a six-inch diameter entrance. A nest does not need to be near water, one mile away is still okay.

After a 28 to 35 day incubation period, the female will lead her eight to twelve little puffball young ones to water. The young will instinctively peck at bugs, small fish fry and insect larvae to begin their journey into life in the wetlands. At 60 to 70 days of age, young mergansers begin to fly. It takes two years for young to reach sexual maturity.

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The Colo Bogs Complex of prairie pothole wetlands is about one mile into Story County on old Highway 30. From State Center, drive west and this road bisects a prairie pothole series of wetlands.

In times of very abundant rains, the highway will have water on both sides of the road. However, other impounded wetlands lay south of the highway and both north and south of the Union Pacific railroad tracks.

Observation points to park and use binoculars/spotting scopes are available. It is from those vantage points that this author was able to inspect and photograph the Ring-necked and Canvasback ducks.

The prairie pothole landscape of shallow ephemeral water basins is one characteristic landscape feature left on the land surface as a direct result of the last glacial advance and retreat. One segment of the Wisconsinan glacial episode made its maximum southern point at what is now the state house grounds in Des Moines.

This glacial episode was tens of thousands of years long in its advances, and its retreat (melting) also took thousands of years as the earth naturally rewarmed. When the ice cover over the landscape of Iowa’s north central region had melted away, multiple shallow depressions were left behind.

Water filled, these pools and ponds, soon became new habitats for all kinds of critters exploiting new territories. Glacial melting continued for many millennia as the ice margin retreat worked north from what we now call Minnesota, the Dakotas and into the prairie provinces of Canada.

Eventually the ice margins gave way to reopen Hudson Bay of Manitoba. Lakes of all sizes were left behind. Numerous wetlands were now available for wildlife as the barren lands left by the glacier were colonized by arctic tundra plant life, then boreal forests, and later extensive grasslands.

The habitat of prairie potholes just in Iowa, if you were to inspect a map showing their locations, would look like a big thumb print covering all of north central Iowa, with numerous spots scattered all over this ‘thumb print.’ Many folks are already familiar with names such as Clear

Lake, Okoboji (east and west), Spirit Lake, the Twin Lakes and others.

These larger bodies of water were cut out by glacial ice action. Adjacent wetlands were ideal habitats for fish, waterfowl, all kinds of aquatic critters large and small, and small birds and insects too numerous to list here. What was known and greatly exploited by pioneer settlers were these sources whereby food could be acquired. Hunting waterfowl was a way to live, to survive, and to prosper.

Today, some 175 years since settlement, wetland losses have been extensive as Iowa’s rich soil resources became known. Farmers found the land of Iowa to their liking. The shallowest of wetlands were drained.

However, larger complexes of wetlands were retained and remain today as important components of diverse water quality improvements.

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Ducks Unlimited has long recognized the need for cooperation and partnerships with private landowners and conservation organizations, private and public, to maintain wetlands, improve wetlands and in some cases bring back wetlands to former locations. DU calls this the Living Lakes Initiative (LLI).

The program’s aim is to try and enhance publicly-owned shallow lakes in the Prairie Pothole Region of Iowa, but DU’s statewide influence also covers wetlands from the Mississippi River to the Missouri River and all points in between. An agreement between Iowa DNR wildlife staff and DU engineers and biologists is a partnership already in process.

Private landowners are part of this process too, since landform types do not necessarily stop or begin at property lines. DU’s goal is to enhance 20 wetland projects annually.

Ducks Unlimited has a working partnership with the National Park Board, Trust in Food, and other conservation partners to bring significant resources and conservation outcomes to Iowa producers. It is funded through the USDA’s Climate SMART Commodities RFP that brings technical assistance support and financial incentives to agricultural producers.

The aim is to help strengthen agricultural bottom lines and promote sustainable outcomes. Soil health is just one goal, and reducing sediment inflows into wetlands is another.

You can help the cause of Ducks Unlimited locally by supporting and attending their next fundraising event. The date has been set for May 13, 2023 at the Midnight Ballroom in Marshalltown, and planning is now underway for this event.

Information on ticket sales will soon be made available. So stay tuned as this event draws closer next month. I’ll have more details as they are made available.

Just in 2022, DU work in Iowa has assisted on 13 projects covering 956 acres. That work invested $1,924,326 in wetland related habitat. A big thank you to all who made that possible.

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Spring rains midweek within the watershed of the Iowa River ranged from one-half inch to over one inch. This time the soil profile had no frost so lots of that moisture soaked in. Good.

Still, a slight runoff may show a bit of increased flow of the Iowa River. Any recharge to the water table will be welcome after our 2022 experience.

April rain brings May flowers, so the old saying says. Mother Nature has it all mapped out.

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Bald eagle egg number one at the Decorah web camera site has recorded the first hatching. Egg number one had its shell pierced by the egg tooth of the eaglet at 4:10 a.m. last Wednesday, April 5.

Welcome to the world to the eaglet named DH1. Both parent birds are sharing duties of keeping the young one warm and dry. By the time you read this, number two is likely to have also hatched.

Check out the Raptor Resource Project website to watch live images of eagles at work raising a new family. Marshall County’s dozen or so eagle nests are likely repeating the same process as their Decorah cousins. Life moves on. Good.

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Advice from an eagle — Let your spirit soar; see the big picture; cherish freedom; honor the Earth and sky; keep your goals in sight.

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Garry Brandenburg is the retired director of the Marshall County Conservation Board. He is a graduate of Iowa State University with a BS degree in Fish & Wildlife Biology.

Contact him at:

P.O. Box 96

Albion, IA 50005

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