By MIKE COURSON
Great Bend Post
Large numbers of birds continue to migrate through Central Kansas, including at Cheyenne Bottoms. That's good for bird watchers and the hunting community, but Bottoms Wildlife Manager Jason Wagner said the influx of snow geese has meant more positive cases of avian influenza.
"Once the snow geese started showing up, we instantly started noticing sick birds," he said. "Avian influenza is rearing its head again. We've been testing a lot of ducks this year. It seemed like early season, teal, we had a lot of positives."
Wagner said staff tested approximately 300 ducks during teal season, and another 200-250 birds have been tested since November. Influenza prevalence among ducks has decreased, but there has been an uptick in positive tests with the arrival of the snow geese.
Wagner said duck populations at the Bottoms continue to be among the highest he has ever seen. And he marvels at their ability to adapt to their surroundings.
"In the last few years, it seems like they just stayed in the refuge all day long," he said. "They don't ever leave the refuge until night. This year, what I've noticed that's different is they're leaving the refuge, and they're using the hunting pools, but they're using them where no one is. It blows my mind that they can pick up on pressure that much."
That pressure, Wagner said, has been surprisingly minimal. While other wetlands around the state are at least maintaining their hunting populations, the Bottoms has not.
"Our hunting pressure has been significantly less than I was expecting," Wagner said. "I was expecting we would have water this year, and there would be people everywhere. That has not been the case, whatsoever. It has been, surprisingly, a low number of hunters out there this year."
Wagner said the number of ducks and hunters makes for some ideal hunting conditions, if the hunters can find the wily ducks.