Quinte Conservation installs duck boxes

By Brandon White

Quinte Conservation and the 2^nd Sydney Scouts took to the woods last week to install boxes to supplement scarce wood duck habitats.

Tim Trustham of Quinte Conservation said the boxes are essential to the local wood duck population due to their natural homes disappearing,

“These boxes we’re installing are designed specifically for wood ducks because the wood duck makes their home in the holes of large standing and fallen trees,” said Trutham,.

“But people tend to cut these large trees down for firewood, and so there isn’t very many trees of a suitable size left for all of the wood ducks in the area.”

Trustham said this isn’t a new problem.

“We look after 600 acres of swamp and woodland, and naturally these places are filled with large, dead-standing trees. They’re slowly getting taken out, and it takes awhile for other trees to get to a good size for the ducks and other waterfowl.”

Although it’s not a major concern, the lack of rainfall over the summer could’ve impacted the local waterfowl population.

“Dry wetlands are a concern for us, but thankfully we had enough rain early into the season that all of the hatchlings and adults had enough food to grow and survive.”

The boxes that the scouts and Quinte Conservation used are available from Ducks Unlimited, and are available to the public free of charge.