Project Overview
Hunting dogs are a huge part of what we do at Red Cedar Retrievers, especially waterfowl hunting. Late 2020 we felt an urge that it was time to do more for conservation to make sure the resources we enjoy are around for our future generations. We are located on the banks of the Red Cedar River so we figured that would be a good place to start. We have partnered with Wisconsin DNR and Wisconsin Waterfowl Association and now head the “Red Cedar Nesting Improvement” where we place waterfowl nesting structures on local slues, lakes, and rivers. With the help of countless volunteers and donors we plan on this being a multi-phase project adding more and more nesting structures each year and expanding our conservation area. If you are interested in helping, please reach out by giving us a call or sending us an email. The ducks will take all the help they can get!
To stay up to date with the project please join our Facebook page: Red Cedar Nesting Improvement. There we will have updates on the success of the nesting structures and hopefully pictures of baby wood ducks!
PHASE ONE: SPRING 2021
The Cut-Off
Spring 2021 was our first phase of this project. With the help of 17 volunteers and local donors we were able to successfully place 24 wood duck nesting boxes on the Red Cedar River at the Cut-Off. We will be monitoring these boxes for years to come making sure the local wood duck population has adequate nesting habitat.
Volunteers & Donors:
Brent R, Kyle S, Tom J, Chris G and his 2 sons, Jeff B, Aaron J, Kendal B, Scott S, Mark S, Burr Oak Woods, Flight & Field Fine Sporting Arms, LLC, Prototype Solutions Group, Wisconsin Waterfowl Association, Cedar Falls Heating & Air Conditioning, ACME Hardscapes
PHASE TWO: SPRING 2022
Mallard Hen Houses
11 local volunteers joined us in placing 17 wood duck boxes and 6 mallard hen houses for phase two of our Red Cedar Nesting Improvement initiative. 11 more nesting boxes were placed down at the “Cut-off” on the Red Cedar River. 3 were placed at Peninsula Park at the Hay River Delta and 3 were placed at the Russian Slue on the Red Cedar River. The 6 mallard hen houses were placed on slues located on private lands where the owners were more than happy to allow us access to place these nesting structures where there should be a high chance of nesting success! We started at 9:00 am and were done by 11:30am as our volunteers made quick work of the tasks.
Speaking of success, after our group finished placing out this year’s structures we went around to the 24 nesting boxes that were placed last year to refresh the nesting material inside. Out of the 24 boxes placed 8 had hatched wood duck eggs inside. Another 4 boxes had evidence of wood duck occupancy in the past year! Seeing 33.3% nesting rate and a 50% occupancy rate in year one is a huge success as we have seen it take a few years before the birds start to use nesting structures.
Local Volunteers: Tom Joos, Jeff Bomber, Cory Benson, Brent Rutz, Nik Anderson, Jake Kresbach, John Froelich, Connor Klatt, Kyle Frederickson, Hannah Frederickson, Chris Gatske & his sons, Jim Swanson, Jacob Mahner, Evan Riske, Bob Crop
Local Donors: Red Cedar Retrievers, Wisconsin Waterfowl Association, Burr Oak Hardwoods, Prototype Solutions Group, H2O Well Drilling, Menomonie Outdoors Sport Shop, Lucette Brewing Co., Menomonie Lions Club, Dunn Co. Fish and Game, Airtec Sports, Scheels
Hen House Private Landowners: Prochnow Family Farms, Dale Quilling, Robert Holden
