26 Nebraskaland • November 2023
teal and wood ducks were joined by
migrating mallards.
I visited Red Wing four times in
2022. By mid-summer, the old channel
that had been almost entirely bare
sand in early 2021 was now completely
green and vegetated. Snails were still
abundant, but there were far fewer
minnows in the pools. When I returned
late August, in the midst of extreme
drought, there was little water to be
found. Ponds behind the beaver dams,
and the runs between them, were left
high and dry. With nary a track to be
found, the beavers had no doubt moved
back to the river. Raccoons and other
birds and mammals had likely feasted
on the aquatic life as the pools dried
up. Snail shells littered the bottom of
dry pools.
Soon after the irrigation wells were
shut off for the season, groundwater
levels recovered, and the water began
fl owing again. By November, the dams
were full and water fl owed between
them, enough to provide a place for
ducks to stop in their fall migration,
and for duck hunters to deploy a decoy
spread.
My only visit in 2023 came during
a hot, dry spell in late July. Beaver
dams still held water in the upper
end of the old channel, but it was low
