Quote:
Originally Posted by Mike Koneski
Those sea ducks are a good substitute if you don't have any fish.  |
Total BS with a quantifier - Atlantic Brant (a sea goose, not a duck) feed primarily on eelgrass but like the Canvasback duck have been forced to modify their diet according to periodic submerged aquatic grass (SUG) die offs sometimes in lengthy durations.
The classic eelgrass die off in the early 1930s led them, like the Canvasback, to alter their feeding preferences to ranker forms of SAGs , some of much higher sulpher content, and in dire cases reverting to very small species of the Mercenaria clam, both of which impart a pungent, rotten-egg flavor to the flesh of the bird.
The easy way to tell is to examine the first bird brought to bag by looking at and whiffing his butt. If the feathers around the anus are tinted greenish or turquoise and exhibit a foul (bad beer-fart) odor, you are wise not to shoot any more. if not, you are good to go and limits are small anyway (c. 2-4 birds depending on state regs.).
On two brant shoots in coastal NJ in the early 20-teens, we shot limits of brant on each occasion. We kept one or two to experience the boquet and texture of the meat (all breasts). Very much like the flavor and spirit of Canada goose breast fillets done on the Weber grill, my favorite way, cooking them rare and slicing the breasts wafer_thin like flank steak. No gloppy sauces or marinades. NO BACON!!!, just grilled whole after stuffing the body cavity with sliced apples. oranges, apricots, and onion! Interestingly, our guide took any not claimed by us in order to make his recently-perfected version of spicy chorrizzo sausage, which was great!
An interesting phenomenon taken place in the last 10-12 years is that the Atlantic Brant population along the Delmarva coast seems to have adapted to feeding in early emergent grain fields (e.g., winter wheat) within sight of the sea, along with Canada geese and mostly puddle ducks. This is thought by latest animal behaviorists to be a learned response on the part of the Brant; on the edge of starvation. they observed and mimiced their Canadian cousins. This is indeed a good sign. it shows they have adapted once again to the ever-changing nutritional ecosystems that keep them alive.
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