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Sarah On Camera: What do you think of when you hear the word migration?
I know what I think of? Geese.
We're all aware of the waterfowl migration that passes over head every spring and fall.
Wildlife researchers have taken to the air to study this amazing phenomenon.
Andy Raedeke: When you see the birds, and especially if you are flying low to get an idea
of what types of birds are around, it really is a spectacle.
Andy: Let's try one more pass real low, I want to get the species composition.
Saw a fair number of mallards but I didn't get a real good look.
Andy: You'll have birds flying by, zipping by, you know, on all sides of the plane.
So you just feel like you are surrounded by ducks and geese when you are in the middle of that.
VO: Fall waterfowl migration is one of Missouri's most spectacular natural events.
Biologist Andy Raedecke and pilot Chet Hartley get the privilege of seeing this phenomenon
from a unique aerial perspective during the Conservation Department's annual waterfowl survey.
Andy: And then we'll go over to Swan Lake and Fountain Grove and we'll see what's going on up that way as well.
Chet Hartley: Normally we have a route that we fly that is pretty routine,
we go in at four hundred to five hundred foot of altitude and we do our aerial photos,
they keep a running record of that. Then after that we get down to about seventy five
or a hundred feet and we literally count the number of animals that we see, in this case ducks.
Andy: There's really two primary purposes, the one is to see the timing
of when ducks and geese come in to Missouri.
We use that information for setting hunting regulations
and also just knowing in general the chronology of when ducks and geese arrive.
The other major reason we do the survey is to monitor the habitat conditions in Missouri.
We have restored lots of wetlands in the past ten or twenty years.
We want to find out where ducks and geese are using wetlands
and what types of wetlands they are using.
VO: The information gained on the aerial survey helps to better manage Missouri's wetlands.
VO: Husband and wife duck hunting team, Eric and Renee Martin appreciate the results.
Eric Martin: We spend a lot of time just the two of us in our boat or a blind.
It's just one more thing that we can share together.
Renee Martin: It's about who we are. I've grown up in the outdoors my whole life.
I learned how to fish when I was a little kid,
I've been hunting since I was eleven. And it's a part of my personality
and it's great when you can share it with other people that have similar interests.
Renee:. A lot of these public hunting areas that we have now
are really doing their job to hold a lot of birds while they are migrating.
So I think the numbers are just going to continue to go up.
I see a bright future for ducks.
Eric: Let's get 'em! SHOT SOUNDS Nice Shot!
VO: For Eric and Renee Martin, duck hunting is more than a weekend hobby.
It's a lifestyle, a passion, and it's giving them a lifetime of memories.
VO: And in the skies above Missouri's wetlands,
biologists are working together with skilled pilots to assess the effectiveness
of these important ecosystems... essential parts of Missouri's natural heritage.
In the process they are getting a unique look
at one of the things that makes Missouri special ... the fall migration.
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