Our First Ducks
April 6, 2023
It has been 441 days since the idea of 50 Ducks first entered my mind. In that time, I have reached out to government agencies in 3 countries, multiple state wildlife agencies, dozens of researchers, schools across the United States, and hundreds of individuals trying to obtain the first GPS banded duck. On April 5th, 2023, at 9:30 am near Toluca, Mexico, Manuel Grosellet helped make our dream a reality by banding, two beautiful Blue Wing Teal.
On April 4th just before sunset, Manuel completed his setup of two lines of mist nets. The first is a string of 3 the second of 4. I sat 2000 miles away in my Georgia home patiently waiting to hear what was captured. We text back and forth, and the only real news was the police showed up to examine what was going on. Manuel assured me “Everything is in order” With that I tried, with as much success as a child on Christmas Eve, to get some sleep. As fate would have it, I had my first dentist appointment (in an embarrassingly long time) at 7:30 the following morning… I told the dentist if my phone rang, we would have to stop regardless of what was going on. Mid conversation about the need for me to floss more… the phone rings. I assured the hygienist I work on it, but that we were done for the day.
