Wood Ducks Banded At East Bend

CINCINNATI, August 26, 2005 — Employees of East Bend Station, along with the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources, completed their annual Wood Duck banding operation at the station wetlands on August 24. This year a total of 64 ducks were banded bringing the grand total to approximately 800 since the program began in 1995.

The annual process starts in late June with site preparation being done by the Kentucky Fish and Wildlife Department. Baiting the area is done on a daily basis by Cinergy employees. As it gets closer to the day of the banding, the ducks are counted and times of their arrival in the early morning are noted. On the day of the banding, the employees arrive at 5 am. The rockets that propel the net are charged and final preparations are made. As the sun rises, the numbers of ducks flying to the site increases. As soon as all the ducks get to the site they start their race to the bait. The biologist watches the bait site and triggers the rockets to send the net over the ducks. The employees get the ducks safely from under the net, put them in holding boxes, and then take them one by one to the biologist for banding. Sexes and age are determined and recorded and the ducks are released unharmed.

East Bend employees participating in the banding this year were Mike Laytart, Andy Buckley, Carolyn Burch, Dave Jones and Tim Hayes, Cinergy Environmental Services. Also present were Bill Balda, wildlife biologist and his two assistants Donnie Yates and Paul Rose from the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife.

“Each year, we gather more information about the Wood Duck during the banding operation at the station,” said Mike Laytart, East Bend employee and banding project coordinator. “As a sportsman, I appreciate this opportunity to help sustain the Wood Duck population in our area for future generations.”

Banding ducks is one of many processes performed to improve waterfowl populations across the country. Each leg band has an identification number, along with an 800-telephone number for phoning in the I.D. number. When a hunter takes a banded duck during the hunting season, he or she only has to call in the I.D. number to the Fish and Wildlife service. After gathering annual information, a flight line can be drawn showing where the ducks were banded and where they were harvested, along with time data. This valuable information allows Fish and Wildlife services across the country to develop wetlands and refuges along the ducks’ flyway to aid in winter migrations.

East Bend Station is one of the few areas across the state of Kentucky that participates with the Fish and Wildlife department with this annual program. The time spent has provided information that improves waterfowl numbers and the wetlands they use across the country. For more information, visit the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service web site.