While more snow piles up across the upper mid-west, some much needed rainfall is spreading across the lower Central and Mississippi Flyways. Cold weather is also impacting migrations on both the Atlantic and Pacific Flyways as we move closer to the official start of winter and the overall picture looks good for waterfowlers in most of the United States.
Hello folks, and as always, welcome to Waterfowler.com.
Winter is still a week away, but you might not know it in many parts of the country. After several years of light snow cover and unseasonably warm duck season weather, the tide has turned and Mother Nature is helping drive ducks and geese south in stunning numbers. Christmas looks to be coming a little early for a lot of waterfowlers.
If you have been waiting to see how things were shaping up before planning your next waterfowling get-a-way, now is the time to put it in ink. The last half of the 2005-2006 season has all the markings of a season to remember.
And now, on to the Migration Report.
PACIFIC FLYWAY
From coastal Washington to central and southern Idaho reports show a marked increase in migration activity over the past week. Cold weather is moving the birds, but it is also icing up many smaller rivers and lakes. The effect has been to concentrate waterfowl on the remaining open waters and near by grain fields in the eastern, upper flyway and an overall increase in migration activity along the coast and western areas.
As the cold weather hangs on, waterfowl abundance should continue to increase all through the flyway.
Reports from the southern flyway also indicate a significant movement of new ducks and geese moving into California and interior flyway states.
CENTRAL FLYWAY
With reports out of Montana and Wyoming coming in with respectable numbers of mallards and geese still moving into and through the western portion of the upper flyway, the overall waterfowl picture for the region looks bright. Some areas from South Dakota into Kansas and Nebraska have reported a drop in waterfowl numbers after the last cold front, but it appears that there may still be enough birds moving down the western side of the flyway to keep things interesting for the near term.
This pattern is also holding true for the southwestern portion of the flyway. New reports of large puddle and diving duck flights are starting to come in and the current weather pattern should keep that trend going.
Southern flyway states continue to report increased migration activity of ducks and geese, with a significant rise in cackling geese, light geese and white fronts taking the top spot in the “New Arrivals” list.
With some much needed rain falling across portions of Texas, birds will have more habitat available and should be less pressured and skittish as the new feeding and resting areas become available.
MISSISSIPPI FLYWAY
From southern Illinois to Ohio ice and snow are making conditions tough for hunters, but the impressive waterfowl numbers in these areas have made the hard work well worth the effort. The strongest reports of increased waterfowl abundance for the upper flyway are coming in from the lower halves of Illinois, Indiana and Ohio, but there are also birds still fighting the cold and snow in locations further north, where the seasons have closed. With more cold and snow on the way, the final push of ducks and geese out of the extreme upper flyway should be happening any day.
Reports from mid-tier states are generally very good, but some rise and fall of waterfowl numbers has been happening from Missouri to Kentucky, as the wave of cold fronts continue to roll across the region.
With the snow cover line running from southern Illinois northeast along the Ohio River, these areas are likely to see a continuing up-down cycle in bird numbers as the more hardy waterfowl hug the edge of the snow cover line.
In the southern portion of the flyway, overall duck numbers are very good, but lack of water is proving to be a major problem. The lack of available water has made gunning pressure a major issue, but has also forced large concentrations of waterfowl into limited food sources, rapidly reducing the “holding power” of flooded agricultural areas and natural moist soil vegetation. More than one report of stripped rice fields and vanishing ducks has come our way over the last week.
Rainfall across sections of the lower flyway should help provide more habitats for the heavy concentrations this week, but the severity of drought will take more than a storm or two to undo.
ATLANTIC FLYWAY
The winter weather system rolling across the mid-west will combine with abundant moisture moving across the southern states over the next few days and could deliver some very hazardous weather to the upper flyway. Forecasts indicate an ice storm may be in the works for northern portions of Virginia into Pennsylvania and New York. Snow will pile up in the New England states as the front moves in as well.
As this latest system moves into the upper flyway the push of birds into the mid-coastal and southern portion of the flyway should increase. Southerly winds may slow the flight down somewhat, but as the freezing precipitation builds and waters ice over, birds should move south in noticeable numbers.
The southern flyway has already seen better than average waterfowl numbers this season and with the winter weather pattern keeping a grip on their neighbors to the north, it looks as though that trend will continue.
The mid-tier and southern flyway states could also benefit from the snow storm that is impacting the Mississippi Flyway as the wind patterns make conditions favorable for cross-flyway migrations.
***Waterfowler.com is working to compile a mid-season report. If you would like to let us know your take on this waterfowl season, please email your review to editor@waterfowler.com and be sure to put your home state and “Mid-Season Review” in the subject line.
