Welcome to The Swamp
The Swamp is a twenty acre block of land about 10 minutes out of Havelock North, Hawkes Bay, in the North Island of New Zealand.
The land is described as “former swamp” and “poorly drained” making it ideal to turn back into a swamp and a wild duck production facility.
This web site documents the Swamp as it is converted from bare land to a natural duck production facility. The purpose is to informally test many of the techniques used for duck production in North America in New Zealand, to provide a model for other New Zealanders who want to increase the number of wild ducks in their area.
For a good part of my life I have read interesting magazines, web sites & emails from conservation organisation that describe how they produce more ducks. I have been heavily influenced by Ducks Unlimited, Delta Waterfowl & the Missouri Department of Conservation. They are conservation organisations that manage for harvest, something that I would like to do in New Zealand if at all possible.
New Zealand provides some different challenges to North America. Our ducks behave in different ways in the season, feeding in the evening and at night and loafing & resting during the day. This makes me wonder whether they behave differently during the breeding season.
Ducks will be hunted in the season, but this is not the primary reason for developing the Swamp. I prefer hunting upland than waterfowl, and so do most of my dogs. Hunting will be dealt with on this site, but it is not the priority, and is strictly limited to those invited to join my informal syndicate who earn the right to hunt through working on the project.
Post One
This is The Swamp, a brand new site by Simon Lusk that's just getting started. Things will be up and running here shortly, but you can subscribe in the meantime if you'd like to stay up to date and receive emails when new content is published!
Post Two
This is The Swamp, a brand new site by Simon Lusk that's just getting started. Things will be up and running here shortly, but you can subscribe in the meantime if you'd like to stay up to date and receive emails when new content is published!
Post Three
This is The Swamp, a brand new site by Simon Lusk that's just getting started. Things will be up and running here shortly, but you can subscribe in the meantime if you'd like to stay up to date and receive emails when new content is published!
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