MWDI Director Cliff Brown Named
Field & Stream’s March 2012 Hero of Conservation
Wins $500 conservation grant from Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc. Read all about it.

Chesapeake Chapter of Safari Club International
18th Annual Banquet and Fundraiser on Saturday, April 21, 2012
being held at the Chartwell Country Club in Severna Park, Maryland.  For details and tickets visit: http://www.chesapeakesci.org

Predator Guards Now Available - $15 each
Suitable for wood duck and bluebird nest protection. The Maryland Waterfowlers Association (MDWFA) is now handling the sale of predator guards to privately sponsored wood duck and bluebird nesting programs. The guards are 26 gauge galvanized metal, 36” diameter, cone style w/ four flaps designed to fit around a 4x4 pole or similarly shaped sections.

Nest Boxes & Kits and Predator Guards
MWDI has a few Wood Duck Nest Boxes and a few Bluebird Nest Box Kits for sale. Contact Cliff Brown - cliftonabrown@aol.com if interested.

Greg Tracey of MDWFA indicates predator guards are temporarily sold out. A new batch is expected soon. Pricing has yet to be determined. We'll keep you posted.

New MWDI site in Anne Arundel County
Kinder Farm Park (KFP) , near Millersville, 3-box program (located just north of MWDI's current project in Crownsville on the old hospital site). Lisa Willis, Sharon Warner and the Friends of KFP will be coordinating the installation and monitoring the boxes along with their existing 22-box bluebird nesting program. MWDI will provide KFP with the boxes, poles and predator guards.

Generous $1,000 Donation to MWDI from the
Chesapeake Chapter of Safari Club International
The Chesapeake Chapter of the Safari Club International has selected MWDI to receive $1,000 to support our youth-oriented box building and outreach activities. Harry Daisey, Chairman of SCI Conservation Committee, recently presented the check to Aaron Ward, MWDI’s Lower Shore Regional Manager. Click here to learn more.

North Caroline High School (NCHS) to Sponsor
Wood Duck Project at Martinak State Park
Lisa Anderson, NCHS Biology Teacher, has initiated a school project that will involve approximately 9 wood duck boxes situated in various areas in the Martinak State Park and along the Choptank River. Click here to learn more.

2011 Youth Box Building Event a Great Success
Chestertown Wildlife Exhibit & Sale
MWDI sponsored a youth wood duck box assembly event at the Chestertown Wildlife Exhibition and Sale on Saturday, October 15th. 18 boxes were built and decorated by about 25 kids ranging from 2 -10 years old.

MWDI Welcomes New Intern - Dave Dickson
MWDI is pleased to have Dave Dickson, a recent US Navy Electronics/SONAR Technician, interning during the next 18 months. Click here to find out more about Dave and his work for MWDI...

MWDI Featured in Maryland DU's Fall Newsletter
Maryland Wood Duck Initiative 7 Years of Success
MWDI thanks The Sink Box Editor Steven Huettner and Maryland DU for featuring us in their newsletter. Maryland DU is a very active partner and without the support of their membership throughout the State, our success would not be possible.

2011 National Hunting & Fishing Day
MWDI Sponsored Kid's Box Building Event
 

Click here for details about our volunteers in action!

Photos from the Field
Dave Godfrey, MWDI Volunteer at Wye Island NRMA and Pickering Creek, sent two interesting photos recently. The first is one lucky male Wood Duck with two hens; the second are two screech owls (one gray and one rufus) quite at home in a wood duck nest box. Thank you Dave for sharing these with MWDI. Anyone else out and about with a camera is more than welcome to submit photos for our website.

2010 Estimated Nesting Results Released (as of Apri1, 2011)
There are a few project sites to visit although it appears that the hatch from public lands will exceed the revised 2009 level and may reach 6,900, a 5% gain. An audit of the 2009 estimates has been 99% completed as actual results became available where partial estimates were used last year. Instead of the 6,378 ducklings previously estimated for 2009, it now seems likely that the hatch will modestly exceed 6,600. The significance for 2009 is that production was basically even with 2008 instead of modestly lower. See the latest Project Report for details.

MWDI Announces New 2011 Upper Chester River Project
Several key people and organizations have stepped up to the plate to bring re-newed life to wood duck nest boxes in Kent & Queen Anne's Counties. Read more...

New "Best Practices" Sites
Total MWDI public "best practices" sites will exceed 77. Approximately 95 new and replacement boxes will be installed this season, bringing net functional box capacity to more than 1,900.

The new sites for the 2011 nest season will include the Upper Chester (Kent-30), Indian Head Trail (Charles-8), Riverside WMA (Charles-7), South River (AA-6), Nanjemoy Creek Environmental Center (Charles-4), Old Bohemia WMA (Cecil-10, Forest Green (Harford – 7), Mullins Landfill (Harford – 5), Cedar Point (Charles – 6)

MWDI's Volunteer Spotlight
Our volunteers have been very busy the last few months. Take a minute to see what we've been up to, by visiting the MWDI Volunteer Spotlight. Click here...

Wood Ducks on Water
Video Clip courtesy of Dave Godfrey

Maryland Wood Ducks on UTUBE
Dave Godfrey, manager of the MWDI Wye Island program and also active with the programs at the Chesapeake Bay Environmental Center and Pickering Creek has created an 8-minute video on how we, as monitors, check wood duck boxes through the spring season. Filled with great tips and images, it is highly recommended viewing for all woody fans.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W4MCf_VDaEY