Welcome to the MWDI website and information center!
Imagine seeing, up close, 11 different species of waterfowl, in full plumage, thousands upon thousands of them in 5 different counties. Sense being startled by woodcock exploding beneath your feet, the disruption and stealth of several wild turkey flocks, a bittern flushed then flopping awkwardly away from its marsh hideout, the sight of numerous eagles involved in all types of aerial acrobatics and nesting, of seeing multitudes of deer and then visualize being pushed rudely aside by 10 flying squirrels, sailing out of a forested nest box as though paratroopers in action. All in 3 days – A Total Wetland Experience. Priceless !!

The Maryland Wood Duck Initiative is an all-volunteer wildlife conservation effort started in late 2004. Our objectives are to enhance Maryland’s wood duck population and to generate a greater appreciation of the wetland habitats in which they live by advocating and demonstrating the merits of a “best practices” approach in managed nest programs.

Leveraging these focused efforts on the wood duck, we seek to provide a Total Wetlands Experience  for our volunteers and the “next generation” through the development of complementary educational programs, internships and research projects.

A Growing & Dynamic Website
Our website is now more than three-months old and the “hit” rate rising. Many aspects of our content development are maturing in a parallel manner but it will be many months before we reach what we desire in terms of documenting and conveying “best practices” assistance through the website. We hope to keep things “fresh” and will add segments as they are finalized. Final reports on Freon canister heat research, the 2006 Public Land nest survey, Other Creatures’ box use and the final 2006 Hooded Merganser nesting survey will be provided by May.

A more detailed volunteer opportunity spreadsheet by project area is being developed and will be added soon. With now 35 public land sites participating and over 1,300 boxes, MWDI offers a broad range of potential bird watching and outdoor activities. Let us develop a nest monitoring niche for you, your friends, your class or youth group!

Field Work Accelerating an Spring Comes
Field progress has been substantive and accelerating. Please read our March Activity Report  for details. We can still use several volunteers in late March and April for installation project work in several areas. Email us and we’ll keep you posted of the schedule of events directly as schedules change frequently for numerous pragmatic reasons. The nest monitoring schedule will be published in April.

General News
A photo contest is being planned to help develop our library and “best practices” manual. A press release is also being planned as we have not “formally” introduced ourselves. MWDI has received some welcomed publicity lately but we are still cautious of about getting the “cart ahead of the horse” too far so that we can still credibly respond in a timely manner to the requests for assistance being made.

Order Box Kits Soon
The next MWDI lumber order for box kits will be in May and then July. This has been a very cost effective and successful way for participants to enhance and start a wood duck program. In July, we can probably offer fully assembled boxes as students will be available to assist. MWDI does not financially profit from any of these activities. Box kits were about $18 on the last order, $32 fully assembled. Future costs will reflect current cedar wood prices.

Your Volunteer Time - Our Most Cherished Asset
MWDI seeks no dues, but we have developed numerous project funding sources to leverage and expand upon our DNR Partnering Agreement (18 at last count).  Fortunately, it is not too expensive to buy lumber and related materials to support a 20-30 box project and “time” is still the most cherished asset we obtain from our supporters. As an entity that has no substance except as represented by the collective “effort” of our volunteers (2,500+ hours) and official supporters, we offer our thanks and deepest appreciation although this does not seem adequate to the value conveyed.

Check out the MWDI Events Calendar for projects that may interest you. Specific email updates will be sent to interested Volunteers.

Sincerely,

Cliff Brown
Executive Director
Maryland Wood Duck Initiative

Acknowledgement: “Peek inside”
Hatching nest Photo courtesy of Dave Godfrey