Tag Archives: roseau river wildlife management area

DNR releases first waterfowl migration report of the season

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The first waterfowl migration and hunting report from the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources hit my inbox Thursday afternoon, but it didn’t arrive in time for me to include in the outdoors report that appears in today’s Herald.

But with waterfowl season opening Saturday, I thought I’d share some highlights from the report in northwest Minnesota. North Dakota’s regular waterfowl season also opens Saturday, although nonresidents can’t begin hunting until Sept. 29.

Conditions are extremely dry on both sides of the Red River. Here’s a look at what hunters in northwest Minnesota can expect at Roseau River and Thief Lake wildlife management areas, two of the largest WMAs in the state.

Thief Lake WMA near Middle River, Minn.: The WMA was holding about 4,000 Canada geese and 12,000 ducks as of Thursday. Ducks consisted of about 35 percent mallards, 26 percent blue-winged teal, 10 percent ringnecks, 7 percent pintails, 6 percent green-winged teal, 5 percent gadwall, 4 percent wigeon, 4 percent canvasback and 3 percent redheads. The WMA also had about 1,100 sandhill cranes. Thief Lake is about 20 inches below target water levels and all of the boat launches are exposed. Access will be difficult with a boat and motor. Best access may be with canoe or small boat that can be carried to the water’s edge. The Moose River access has sufficient water for boats, but the delta where the river enters the lake is very shallow and overgrown with vegetation. Most seasonal wetlands in the area are dry.

Roseau River WMA near Badger, Minn.: Estimated waterfowl numbers weren’t available, but northwest winds and cooler temperatures have “markedly improved” the outlook for ducks, especially mallards, teal and ringnecks. Wood duck numbers are good in areas with wild rice, and Canada goose numbers are relatively strong. Roseau Lake is completely dry, and the Roseau River is well below normal levels. Many of the oxbows are dry with occasional puddles. The pools on the WMA are nearly 1 foot low; many of the backwater areas of the pools have only slush water available. Moist soils units are dry with little hope for pumping water into them in the near future. On the Roseau River, hunters should consider using a small boat, canoe or hiking into a hunting spot. On the pools, conventional access with outboard motors will be slow due to abundant submergent plant growth and shallow water depths.

I’ll post weekly waterfowl reports from both states throughout the fall. To see the complete DNR migration report, click here:

 

Roseau River Wildlife Management Area produces birding discoveries

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I took a drive down the “dike road” at Roseau River Wildlife Management Area in northwest Minnesota on Sunday morning to wet a line and see what I could see.

Once again, I was reminded why it’s always a good idea to carry a camera in the vehicle.

I was driving along the western end of Pool 1 when I came across several swans. Stopping for a closer look, I photographed a couple of the white birds, balancing the camera on the roof of my truck to minimize the chance of blurry images.

The birds were a few hundred yards out on the water, and I had to zoom in a long ways.

A family of trumpeter swans photographed Sunday morning at Roseau River Wildlife Management area. (Brad Dokken photo)

I had snapped several photos when I noticed a pair of swans farther east. Between them swam five fuzzy, gray-colored offspring, known as “cygnets.”

I drove a few hundred yards farther down the road for a clearer photo and managed to get several more shots of the swan family as the birds swam across a patch of open water.

I’m not a hard-core birder by any means, but the encounter was pretty cool, I thought, as I drove east down the dike road, which the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources opens to motor vehicles for a couple of weeks every summer.

The southern half of Minnesota is considered the range for great egrets but these birds were photographed Sunday morning at Roseau River Wildlife Management Area just a couple of miles south of the Canadian border. (Brad Dokken photo)

I’d driven another mile or so when I noticed three more white birds on the waterfront. They were much ganglier than the swans and more skittish, but they landed in a shallow area that offered me an unobstructed opportunity for more photos.

Sunday night, I emailed the photos to Heidi Hughes, manager of the Audubon Sanctuary of the Red River Valley near Warren, Minn. She confirmed the swans were trumpeter swans — “tundras don’t nest this far south,” she said. Hughes also said the Minnesota Ornithologists Union hadn’t received any reports of nesting trumpeter swans this year in Roseau County.

Well, they have now.

Trumpeter swan range in Minnesota.

Great egret range in Minnesota.

A Google search led me to conclude the next birds I photographed were great egrets. Their yellow bills were a dead giveaway. Hughes said the great egrets aren’t reported as a Roseau County nesting bird, either. A range map Hughes supplied shows the egrets are limited to the southern half of Minnesota.

Apparently, someone forgot to tell the trio I spotted Sunday.

Roseau River WMA is located north of Badger, Minn., on Roseau County Road 3 and the dike road will be open to vehicle traffic weekends through Aug. 19.

For more information on Roseau River WMA, click here:

 

DNR reopens burned areas of Roseau River WMA

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The Department of Natural Resources has reopened the portions of the Roseau River Wildlife Management area that were closed during the recent “Juneberry” wildfire in northwest Minnesota.

“Even though some of the WMA is black, there are still plenty of good hunting spots available,” said Randy Prachar, manager of Roseau River WMA. “This time of year, Roseau River WMA is a destination for waterfowl hunters, and we’d like to assure all users that plenty of opportunities still exist.”

The Roseau River WMA is a 75,000-acre public hunting ground located along the Minnesota-Manitoba border in northwestern Roseau County. Prachar said the fire will improve habitat and nesting and breeding cover in the long run.

Here is updated information the DNR released Thursday afternoon for those deciding on whether to include Roseau River WMA in their fall hunting or wildlife viewing plans:

• Campsites and other facilities are safe to use.

• Pool 2 did not burn, so hunters should expect to find it in its usual condition. Though the campgrounds associated with Pool 2 did burn over, they are still functional (some soot present).

• Pool 3 did burn, but much of the pool that is navigable for hunting, and its associated cattail cover did not burn, thus hunters should be able to hunt their usual spots. As with Pool 2, the Pool 3 campsite burned, but the site is functional.

• The Roseau River south of Pool 3 burned, but fire was kept from the most popular areas. The major campsites north of Greenbush were not burned. Hunters should note that the drought has made navigating a boat difficult in the shallow river water.

• There was significant disturbance to waterfowl on Pool 3 and along a portion of the Roseau River due to consecutive days of helicopter traffic. Hunters should expect the influence of this disturbance to wane as we get farther into October and as new birds arrive in migration that were not there to experience the disturbance.

• The wooded areas of the WMA that were burned will be black until snow falls. Already, bear, deer, ruffed grouse, woodcock and snowshoe hares have been observed along the perimeter of the burned area.

More information on Roseau River WMA is available here:

Map of Roseau River Wildlife Management Area: