A general warming trend across much of the US last week continues in many areas, and has hunters wondering if and when the ducks are gonna move.
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And now, on to the Migration Report.
GENERAL OVERVIEW
All across the US the recent warming trend has slowed the migration of ducks and geese.
Along the Pacific Flyway, duck numbers are steady for the coastal states, but hunters report the birds are increasingly difficult to work. Above average temperatures will do little to move ducks along their migration route, but a slow movement of light geese is expected as the week progresses.
Inland, ice along the Snake River has made hunting tough, but lack of ducks is the real issue. However, the interior flyway from southern Idaho southward is seeing a steady buildup of new ducks, though their neighbors to the north are at a loss to explain where these birds came from.
The Central and Mississippi Flyways both saw a major slowdown of bird movement as the weather warmed, snow and ice melted, and winter retreated back up to the Canadian border. The best concentrations of birds are reported in a rough line extending from Colorado up through southern South Dakota, but from there east it gets a bit sketchy. Concentrations of ducks are scattered and hard to find along most of the Mississippi Flyway. Thawing waters in the northern tier and flooding across most of the rest of the Mississippi Alluvial Valley has served to spread the ducks thin from Illinois to Louisiana. With this much water available, ducks are changing patterns with even the slightest pressure.
A return of cold weather is still a few days out for the bulk of these two flyways, but with it a more regular migration activity level should be expected.
Out on the east coast, hunters reported a northern retreat of ducks and geese during the most recent warmup. Sea duck numbers remain good from Maine down to North Carolina, but puddle ducks and divers appear to be riding the freeze line in a sort of migration push and pull that sends them down the coast, then back up to the border.
Fair numbers of “calendar ducks” have moved down into southern coastal states, but major migration activity has been stalled due to the warming trend.
