Post-Season 2016

[Rick]

Had a 6 month dentist appointment this morning and when she made my new appoint it was at Thanksgiving. My mind went straight to duck season and running out of time....

Need to move it to the split - otherwise, you should already know when the sweetest front of the year will roll through.

[Rick]

I really believe the 2016 model is the most user friendly design thus far...

I was past the two dozen models auditioned mark when I lost count, but a few years back I finally quit buying speck calls forever.



















Maybe.

[DComeaux]

Had a 6 month dentist appointment this morning and when she made my new appoint it was at Thanksgiving. My mind went straight to duck season and running out of time....

Need to move it to the split - otherwise, you should already know when the sweetest front of the year will roll through.

I hem-hawed a bit when she gave me the date as this was on my mind, and I may just make a change before then. Nothing is to be planned during duck season, but some in my family still don't get it.

[Rick]

It's a family's responsibility to be understanding. Feel free to tell them I said so.

[DComeaux]

summer no wind work.mp3

no wind flat day,gonna try this

Sounds good. You made me pull out my call.

[Rick]

Sounds good. You made me pull out my call.

I run one at some point of about as many days as not, but couldn't do that.

[Rick]

Turns out I pretty much can, but can't say I've ever even considered trying an extended murmur of that nature on birds. Just some more broken 3-4 note gabble and ghosting. Could be I've missed something important.

The tone of your clucks is sweet.

[Darren]

A teammate on my old timer over-30 soccer team is a professor at LSU studying waterfowl, just returned from a couple of weeks in the Dakota's. Note from him I received yesterday below:

Things were indeed pretty dry...there was one day that the DU crew doing pair counts only found 4 wet basins in the 116 they checked. Overall I'd say maybe half of the smaller wetlands are holding water, and conditions improve from west to east. The oil boom has for sure slowed down, but even still, we had one site where last year's aerial imagery didn't show 4 active pads. In any case, I expect effects on ducks will come more from infrastructure/habitat fragmentation than any particular well being actively fracked.

My nest-searching team is up to a few dozen nests, so pretty typical timing; first shoveler nest yesterday, and loads of BWTE in the area.

[Rick]

[quote="Darren"...and loads of BWTE in the area.[/i][/quote]

Hadn't been out to Thornwell since the big rains and was a little disappointed to find what had been the best teal show of this Spring was over when the bug and I trained there this morning. (Nearly as disappointing was finding that the coyotes had also discovered and cleaned out what were the absolutely biggest and best blackberries I've found in LA.) But we did get buzzed by three juking blue-winged jewels that were apparently courting on the walk out. Perhaps a last tease to hold me through the long Summer...

[Rick]

Maybe better stated as it is not a sound that I have enough field reps to say...

Those "reps" just keep getting harder and harder to come by.

[DComeaux]

Turns out I pretty much can, but can't say I've ever even considered trying an extended murmur of that nature on birds. Just some more broken 3-4 note gabble and ghosting. Could be I've missed something important.

The tone of your clucks is sweet.

Had the opportunity to sit very close to a large group of these as did Blake, on separate occasions in that mid blind. His situation being more approaching birds to land. The low murmur rumble was deafening with the occasional broken clucks and squeaks. He still talks about that days experience. I haven't had a good opportunity to try this calling since we only had that mid section in shape but that one year.

When my call is tuned for the low end I sacrifice top end tone quality and volume. I tried this last night as tuned for top end and was able to get what I wanted in the low range by choking down or cupping a good bit with the both hands over the barrel. I'll need to practice this to find the sweet spot. It's a very finicky procedure. I may adjust the reed a bit to see if I can make the low end easier to find.

[Darren]

From yesterday's posting:

Back to Saskatchewan

Written by Stephen Chandler

Wednesday, May 11, 2016

Photo of Phil Thorpe.Ahhh! Back on the Saskatchewan prairie. This is my fourth year as an aerial observer sitting to the right of Phil Thorpe in the southern Saskatchewan crew area. What an awesome opportunity this has been—flying and counting with Phil who is starting his 20th year of surveys here—and now it begins again. I arrived in Regina, SK, on Saturday, April 30th, and after a few weather delays, Phil followed on May 2nd. I was able to get out on the landscape on Sunday, May 1st, to do a little recon from the ground and found some of the driest conditions since I began the survey in 2013. I drove a 25-mile route on the Regina Plain (SE of Regina) to count ponds and to get a pair-to-lone drake ratio. This gives us a better idea of spring progression on the prairie. On that route, I found 6 wet and 40 dry wetlands. Last year, almost all of those were wet. So, I decided to drive another route, this time 85 miles east to west and only found 6 natural wetlands that had water. When I did find ducks, there seemed to be a good mix of pairs and lone drakes, so the timing looks about right. Our May 3rd recon flight confirmed what I saw from the ground. It’s dry! We began the 2016 Breeding Waterfowl and Habitat Survey on May 4th. After a few days of flying transects, the dry trend continued. We were counting less than half of the ducks and ponds we counted in the previous years. I hope we see more water (and ducks) as we move north.

[DComeaux]

From yesterday's posting:

Back to Saskatchewan

Written by Stephen Chandler

Wednesday, May 11, 2016

Photo of Phil Thorpe.Ahhh! Back on the Saskatchewan prairie. This is my fourth year as an aerial observer sitting to the right of Phil Thorpe in the southern Saskatchewan crew area. What an awesome opportunity this has been—flying and counting with Phil who is starting his 20th year of surveys here—and now it begins again. I arrived in Regina, SK, on Saturday, April 30th, and after a few weather delays, Phil followed on May 2nd. I was able to get out on the landscape on Sunday, May 1st, to do a little recon from the ground and found some of the driest conditions since I began the survey in 2013. I drove a 25-mile route on the Regina Plain (SE of Regina) to count ponds and to get a pair-to-lone drake ratio. This gives us a better idea of spring progression on the prairie. On that route, I found 6 wet and 40 dry wetlands. Last year, almost all of those were wet. So, I decided to drive another route, this time 85 miles east to west and only found 6 natural wetlands that had water. When I did find ducks, there seemed to be a good mix of pairs and lone drakes, so the timing looks about right. Our May 3rd recon flight confirmed what I saw from the ground. It’s dry! We began the 2016 Breeding Waterfowl and Habitat Survey on May 4th. After a few days of flying transects, the dry trend continued. We were counting less than half of the ducks and ponds we counted in the previous years. I hope we see more water (and ducks) as we move north.

Well, that's just fricken awesome..... There'll be a lot of 12K+ ag blinds bitchin this year.

[Rick]

We could have a year like 2000, and there would be a lot 12K blinds bitching.

[DComeaux]

Ya know, It doesn't really matter what those reports say. They never seem to translate into what you'd expect to see, or turn into the "RECORD NUMBER/FULL FLYWAY" reports we get, even in wet years.

[Darren]

Ya know, It doesn't really matter what those reports say. They never seem to translate into what you'd expect to see, or turn into the "RECORD NUMBER/FULL FLYWAY" reports we get, even in wet years.

I'd agree Dave. I look back on the duck numbers around for a few seasons that were stellar for us with seemingly zillions of grays. Yet, on paper, the counts said that the grays were literally half as numerous as they've been in recent years. And similarly we've yet to have a stellar-off-the-charts season when the "record fall flights" are forecast by DU, Delta, etc as in most recent years. Reality is its just about what very small portion of those total bird counts shows up to your stompin grounds.

[aunt betty]

The ducks and geese just don't have to go as far south to feed now. No-till and all the federal dams and lakes they built. Each has a refuge and they're "holding" birds and that's why you don't see the numbers despite the forecast. The only way I can see that y'all will ever see the good ole days again is for the midwest to freeze solid all the way to SEMO or below along with two feet of snow cover. That'd force your migration the way you want it. Now pray for cold and tons of snow. (like that'd help)

[Rick]

Been praying for snow to the Ferris wheel's axle in Little Rock for years. No dice so far.

[Darren]

The ducks and geese just don't have to go as far south to feed now. No-till and all the federal dams and lakes they built. Each has a refuge and they're "holding" birds and that's why you don't see the numbers despite the forecast. The only way I can see that y'all will ever see the good ole days again is for the midwest to freeze solid all the way to SEMO or below along with two feet of snow cover. That'd force your migration the way you want it. Now pray for cold and tons of snow. (like that'd help)

Though those conditions would be the absolute perfect storm of an ideal scenario, we don't have to have it to get what most of us would call a good season. After a lackluster season in 2013 plagued by a delayed migration that had us wondering if the ducks had forgot about coming to La, they were largely back in full force the following season as a result of early and often fronts in October and November, albeit not in historic numbers. This past season was a perfect storm of what we do NOT want, and thus the majority of us down this way hang our hats on that being why the hunting was down a fair bit. An inordinately wet/flooded flyway north of us coupled with El Nino weather pattern giving us pacific-originating fronts was the perfect storm for keeping birds holed up in the Midwest (or above). Here's hoping for arctic blasts throughout October!

[Ducaholic]

Funny how things differ in the same zone but 150 air miles apart mostly due to habitat differences I would think and what weather patterns work best for a particular area. Had a banner year in 2013, 2014 was simply abysmal, with 2015 being slightly better than the year before.

[Rick]

Lots of variables, but 2013 was one of our worst in recent times, 2014 much stronger and 2015 somewhere in between.

[Darren]

Funny how things differ in the same zone but 150 air miles apart mostly due to habitat differences I would think and what weather patterns work best for a particular area. Had a banner year in 2013, 2014 was simply abysmal, with 2015 being slightly better than the year before.

Think I remember you mentioning as much that year, was super weird for us. Much like this season, we had high water early but then we got all kinds of fronts late and were all kinds of fired up for the flocks we were certain to be arriving any day......that just never showed. THAT was scary......big weather events, no birds. That was the year of the non-migration/delayed migration. Is it just by chance we've had something goofy happen the last three seasons in a row? I'm sure hoping so and the 3 seasons leading up to 2013 would seem to support that notion as they were fairly "normal" weather years with no particularly early or vigorous winter systems nor inordinately late springs. The log says those three were great years for us in our marsh.

2013 - delayed migration, they never showed, poor season overall
2014 - early and often fronts and really good overall numbers, strong across the SE La region
2015 - early (pacific) fronts/El Nino, flyway was very wet scattering what did come, good season for some and poor for others. We had some stellar hunts in Delacroix but my home town marsh was wayyy off.

For 2016? No late spring so far, check! Wet breeding grounds? uhhhh.....not lookin that way. Early and often fronts? TBD