Coot Migration

Carl

Carl

Well-known member
Staff member
Coot migration has begun.
My friends neighbor had one in their back yard this morning in downtown Mobile. It was exhausted, hung out around their yard eating grass and bird seed for about 4 hours then flew off. I figured it dropped out at the first green spot it saw at sunup.
I also saw about 20 gadwalls and a lone diver while fishing Mobile Bay on Wednesday, calendar ducks obviously don't mind the heat.
 
I saw a flock of the saltwater version winging south......... 2 miles out of Manasquan NJ. while trolling. all adult birds.


Phil
 
Glad to see that some birds are coming into your area, Carl. We are lucky here even it was 85F here yesterday. We have a bird that is indigenous to New Mexico and that is the Mexican duck. So for right now all I have my eyes on now would be the calendar and the Rio Grande. Our season opens on Oct. 27th (2 weeks from today) and the Rio Grande which is almost dry again. It was running at 25 cfs at 3:15AM.
Al
 
Glad to see that some birds are coming into your area, Carl. We are lucky here even it was 85F here yesterday. We have a bird that is indigenous to New Mexico and that is the Mexican duck. So for right now all I have my eyes on now would be the calendar and the Rio Grande. Our season opens on Oct. 27th (2 weeks from today) and the Rio Grande which is almost dry again. It was running at 25 cfs at 3:15AM.
Al
Click to expand...


Man, you need to move!!!
 
We have a good dose of them new migrating coots here in NW Pennsylvania too. And it seems like there were more mallards on the water than normal this morning too. They may just be popcorn ducks though, not really sure of their origin.

Steve
 
Yes, I have actually seen them fly!
And once took a 15 bird limit, all flyers!
A line of fog was rolling over a very wide bay, I was on the far end from where the fog started.
Flocks and singles of coots seemed to be trying to keep out of the fog and I had a continuous stream of them flying past for 30 minutes.
 
I grew up hunting the Nelson, WI bottoms (aka Pool 4) on the Mississip and it always amazed me how there would be a massive flock o' coots on the water one day and not a one the next although we rarely saw a flock in the air other than in response to an overhead eagle. Our theory was that they all boarded boxcars on the nearby siding and hoboed their way south en masse.

Based on the surveys I've done below transmission lines, they're very much nighttime flyers and, consequently, very susceptible to collisions in the dark.
 
I checked and you have posted a time or two in the last year but I missed those. Or got you confused with that "Hagar" guy that Parks always talked to.

I'm in NE Montana for another week or so though the cold wind raking the prairie this morning has me thinking about maybe starting to ease South. This is going to be an annual event so next y'all for sure we need to plan on getting into the same place at the same time.

Good to see you back on the board


Steve
 
Sounds great. My antelope hunt required all of two hours last weekend so I'm heading north to resume ducking and uplanding now that pheasant season is open. Keep in touch.
 
I'm not a mammal hunter but the Antelope we have seen have made me want to be. At least once. We've seen some dandies including one Dani and I watched for a week that taped out at over 15" that I saw at the hotel on the opener. That'll teach him to rut in public.

Post some pictures.

Steve
 
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