Each winter, aerial survey teams of pilots and biologists from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Maryland Department of Natural Resources make visual estimates of ducks, geese and swans along Maryland’s Chesapeake Bay shoreline and Atlantic coast. This year, the teams witnessed more than 855,500 waterfowl, slightly lower than the 905,000 birds observed during 2014, but higher than the five year average of 757,000.
Biologists attribute this year’s count to the fact large areas of the Bay’s tributaries were ice covered during the survey period, concentrating waterfowl where they were more easily counted.
More details on the survey can be found at the following link posted by Maryland Department of Natural Resources
http://news.maryland.gov/dnr/2015/02/23/dnr-releases-2015-midwinter-waterfowl-survey-results/