Better-late-than-never migration heads for Quivira

The wildlife viewing at the Quivira National Wildlife Refuge has been long on quality but short on quantity this fall.

Mike Oldham, refuge manager, expects the 22,000-acre refuge about 90 minutes northwest of Wichita to have both in the coming weeks.

“We’ve been thinking we’re about two weeks behind in our (waterfowl) migrations, which means things could really get going in the next few weeks,” Oldham said. “I was up in South Dakota last Saturday and Sunday and their wetlands still look pretty good and the birds are hardly moving. That should change and we’ll see some migration movements.”

Oldham said late-week counts showed about 88,000 geese on the refuge. That number has often been at least twice as high in many past Novembers. Many years in the past, the sight of so many geese rising from the refuge’s Big Salt Marsh at sunset has been called one of the top wildlife viewing events in the country. Oldham said duck numbers have been lower than many years, though there have been more recently. As more ducks and geese come to Quivira, so will more bald eagles, another popular bird with wildlife watchers.

Sandhill cranes, another Quivira staple for wildlife watchers, have been a bit more dependable this year, and have started their usual late November decline. Oldham said Thursday’s count showed around 4,000 sandhills on the refuge. A few weeks ago there were more than 12,000.

Endangered whooping cranes, the high-profile species that annually draws birders and photographers from across the nation, have put on a good show this year.

“I think we’ve had between 60 and 70 whooping cranes and last year we only had maybe 30,” said Oldham. “I think we’re over the hump as far as whooping crane migration goes, but it’s been good. We’ve had them for quite a while and a lot of people were successful in seeing them.” He said no whooping cranes were found on Thursday’s count.

That’s good news for those who like to hunt waterfowl and upland game, such as pheasants on Quivira’s public hunting areas. For years, the entire refuge has been closed to hunting when whooping cranes are present. Oldham said his staff will wait a few days before opening the areas to hunting.

“If not this coming week, I’d like to think we’ll open (to hunting) the first week of December,” said Oldham. “We’ll do the best we can, but we need to be sure.”

He also said waterfowl hunters need to be sure the area they’re wanting to hunt has enough water to float decoys and attract ducks and geese before making a long hike into a hunting area.

“Unit 28 still has some water, and the North Lake area has a little more flow. There is some huntable water up there,” said Oldham. “The rain this week helped, but we definitely could use a little more rain.”

This story was originally published November 21, 2015 at 4:33 PM with the headline "Better-late-than-never migration heads for Quivira."