As a cold front moved across the US early this week, reports of teal on the move came in from all across the upper Central and Mississippi Flyways.
Hello folks, and as always, welcome to Waterfowler.com.
The Labor Day weekend is a milestone to the return of fall and of course, hunting season. Cooler weather has the early migration heating up, so be sure to join or renew now to stay up-to-date with the latest migration information through WFC’s Migration Mapping and Field reports.
If you are a Waterfowler.com Member, be sure to check out the latest upgrades to the WFC Migration Mapping System. By clicking on Advanced Map, members can zoom in and out on the map and query map information from any date or time period. A brief How-To is posted in the OnLine Lodge to help you get the most out of the new map features. The new features, now in beta testing, bring a whole new level of usability to the WFC Migration Map.
With the regular season fast approaching, it is a great time to stock up on your last minute must-haves from the WFC OnLine ProShop. More new products are being added every week, and as a Waterfowler.com Member you can save big with every purchase. Sean Mann calls and Boneyard Decoys are now available in the WFC OnLine ProShop and more new products will be showing up any day now. Stop by the ProShop today and start stocking up for the opener.
And now, on to the Migration Report.
Teal are on the move. Reports from along the Mississippi River show a fresh push of blue wings moving down the Big Muddy along and ahead of the latest cold front. Teal numbers have increased at nearly every stopping point along their way to the coasts of Texas and Louisiana. Over the next week, birds should continue to trickle down the flyways and reinforce numbers that moved south ahead of the latest front. Thus far, the teal migration appears to be stretched out along the flyways. Some areas in the mid-tier states and coastal regions are reporting heavy teal numbers but there seems to be no north/south dividing line of teal stopping grounds at this point.
In Canada, a delay in the harvest of grain crops in many areas is making scouting a bit more difficult. Ducks are using the grain fields, but unless you spot them milling or falling into the fields, they are tough to spot. Until the harvest is complete, migration toward the US border is likely to be slow, unless snowfall or severe cold comes to the Canadian Provinces early.
From the looks of recent weather trends, fall seems determined to arrive early this year. But as we all know too well, the weather can change in a wing beat and leave us all scratching our heads and looking north. While we wait for the official opener, stay tuned to Waterfowler.com for the latest on the 2004 fall waterfowl migration.
