Doug Leier: The changing waterfowl migration

For generations, the arrival of the northern migration was as predictable as October frost. But if you talk to any waterfowler who has spent the last 20 years watching the horizons in North Dakota, they will tell you the old patterns have shifted. Ducks and geese are moving differently, staying in some areas longer, others not as long and altering their traditional routes. This is not a random twist of nature. It is a direct response to agricultural changes stretching from the Canadian prairies down through the Dakotas. Doug Leier is an outreach biologist for the North Dakota Game and Fish Department. Reach him at [email protected]. It begins in the breeding grounds of Canada. Two decades ago, the Canadian prairie pothole region was dominated by spring wheat and traditional tillage. Today, Canadian farming relies heavily on zero-tillage practices and climate-resilient crops. Zero-tillage leaves heavy crop residue in the fields through fall. This creates a massive, easily a