Update on bird die-off in Glendale Narrows

Visited the River late yesterday afternoon and ran into Tony Taylor, the Duck Man. Weather has cooled and he said he hasn’t seen any new duck carcasses.

Saw some baby geese with mother who are doing well. Beautiful!

Tony says it looks like it was mostly the Muscovys that died. We’ll see what happens. The water is still pretty putrid (low oxygen) from the excess early-season algae that happened this year, and as long as that’s the case, this could flare up again. (“The Botulinum bacteria is harmless unless exposed to low oxygen conditions, which allows it to grow into a vegetative state that contains a toxin capable of paralyzing the muscles and respiratory systems of fish, birds and humans.” ([source])

There’s some speculation going round as to why the algae bloom came so early and heavy this year. More on that later.