LOTS of ducks in SW
Got in the air for the first time yesterday; I hope to get the coastal transects and Catahoula Lake (our long-term comparable data stream) finished on Friday. NW survey is already compromised and NE is likely to be incomplete because of holidays and logistics problems.
I haven't crunched the numbers, so it is always risky to comment, but I flew the westernmost 11 lines yesterday and saw more ducks than I can remember in November. Groups of divers on some large water bodies and huge numbers of coots in some marsh locations, which is more typical of December than November. The first overwhelming concentration was near the East Cove Unit of Cameron Prairie NWR, but there were lots of ducks in the marshes in many locations. One of note is the very short transect line south of Lake Calcasieu where we might see 50-100 ducks on most surveys, but saw over 1,000 yesterday. Saw a lot of ducks in the marsh as we flew from that line over to Grand Chenier.
Saw a couple of good groups of ducks and HUGE group of geese in the ag fields NW of Gueydan. Ducks in the ag were spotty compared to the marsh.
So there you go. I have just set you up for big disappointment by giving credence to high expectations ...... at least in that part of the state. I'll be among those disappointed, I'm sure, after having a poor youth hunt on Cameron Prairie NWR and seeing few birds in the general vicinity of my lease.
Today we fly transects from White Lake east to LaFourche Parish, then to the Mississippi border and Catahoula Lake on Friday.
This is from Larry Reynolds with lfws
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