We have coots!

Carl

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Saw my first small flock of coots of the season on Mobile Bay yesterday. A sure sign that the gadwalls can't be far behind. Hopefully we'll have lots of cold weather to push the birds to the coast this year.
 
We've had bluewings since late August but these are the first coots I have seen.
I guess all the snowbirds show up earlier in Florida!
 
Not all, just some Carl. There kinda like human snowbirds in that respect. I have seen far many more teal than coot though.

Hitch
 
lol. i see coots all the time.....they don't like to leave the retention ponds...i start looking for the grebe birds in big numbers. and i'm beginning to see them! 1 more month!!! finally the birds that actually migrated back north are coming back south!!
 
1 month: Me and the dogs will be on our way to visit Kyle and Todd, Greg and Tizmo. We'll probably all have our tongues hanging out.

I caught Steve on the Wifi up in Manitoba, and he's having a blast, Cans, Redheads!!

One Month!!!

Hitch
 
When you come up to visit Todd and the bunch, give me a shout and I'll see if I can schedule time to join you for a hunt or two. Actually give me as much notice as you can, sometimes work can be a PITA schedule wise.

(how's that for inviting one's self to the party, hehe) If it's ok with you friends, I would like to join you guys.
 
Sounds good to me Dave. I'm starting out in Missouri and we'll be going where the ducks are from there, probably work our way to eastern Iowa.

Hitch
 
Carl-

There were a bunch of gaddies and coot in Manitoba last week. I took this pic for you Bama boys.

-D

100B2392.jpg

 
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Just to touch base again, If you make it to Eastern Iowa/Western Illinois maybe you can work in a Mississippi River hunt or two.

Ed L.
 
Be careful of what you wish for when you wish for cold weather.

I sent this off to my boy in Iraq-

"It has been kind of warm here in central Iowa; I still have not had any frost and still have to run the air conditioning on some days. I mentioned this to your Grandpa Loren and he said that it reminded him of 1940. That year it was warm until Armistice Day (now Veterans Day) when a cold storm front came through. Virtually every apple tree in the state of Iowa died that day dropping Iowa as the no 1 apple producing state. The sap froze before it went down to the roots of the trees and the expansion of this freezing caused the trees to split open. Across Northern Iowa, Southern Minnesota and Wisconsin, over 40 duck hunters died too. They went out in light clothes and it got so cold and so windy so fast that they froze before they could get to shelter. Sylvan Runkel was almost one of the ones who died. He was at a lake in Northern Iowa (I think Storm Lake, a pretty big lake) and decided that it was getting bad. He took his small boat out to get his decoys, decided that was a mistake, could not get back to shore, was blown across the entire lake and broke into a cabin to find shelter so that he didn't freeze to death. He spent the next three days there."

I wrote that about a week ago and still no frost. I guess the ducks were really pushed by that weather front. It dropped 60 degrees in a very short time. The hunting was great for one morning though, but too many were not prepared. Ten degees with wind is a killer if you are not prepared and most of the hunters were not.
(Sylvan Runkel was my hunting partner's father.)

Bob
 
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