eastern region (ontario)
VOLUME 32, NUMBER 3, 2011
Migrating waterfowl benefit from seasonally flooded farm field
K
Ken Bokor is serious about farming. He also recognizes the management practices he use can have other sustainability benefits. Bokor was among the first landowners to participate in a water quality and biodiversity program within the Rondeau Bay watershed. Soon he was suggesting one of his own ideas to Ducks Unlimited Canada (DUC). Bokor owns land on the Rondeau Bay in Chatham-Kent, Ontario, where he uses a reservoir to collect excess water from his fields and then pumps it back into the bay. Bokor however, leaves six lowlying acres flooded until early April. These acres are then drained and cropped as part of the normal farming cycle. Delaying the pumping of the drainage reservoir, Bokor creates a significant benefit to early migrating wildfowl. While the bay may still be covered with ice, the shallow water in the fields can be full of invertebrates and other food. The flooded area is an attractive feeding area for thousands of ducks, geese and tundra swans. “What is really surprising is the huge numbers of diving ducks, like redheads and canvasbacks, using this shallow field in the spring. You would never see them in the fields in the fall,” says Bokor. “Delaying the drainage does not have any negative effects on my farm’s production, and I thoroughly enjoy seeing these thousands of spring birds on my field.”
There are extra costs to Bokor for providing the benefits and DUC worked with him to find ways to help offset those expenses. The project was completed in the fall of 2010 and was supported by funding from Species at Risk Farm Incentive Program, Stewardship Kent and DUC. “Rondeau Bay is part of a key waterfowl staging area in southern Ontario and when I saw pictures of Ken’s property, I was thrilled to see so many ducks using this flooded field,” says Dave McLachlin, DUC biologist. “I knew immediately we had to meet and see how DUC could work with Ken to develop a low-maintenance sustainable way of keeping the water on his field during that crucial early migration period. Ken is a keen waterfowler and conscientious conservationist who created an important opportunity for early birds to use his flooded corn stubble field.” Across southern Ontario there are a large number of farm properties using similar drainage and pumping systems. The landowners can make major contributions to migrating waterfowl by simply altering their management schemes at critical times until the birds pass through. S When Ken Bokor delays pumping the water from his seasonally flooded farm field, he is creating a significant benefit to early migrating wildfowl. Photo by Greg Dunn.