We managed to get the Illinois River flight in on Friday, September 21st. The airplane was down for maintenance early in the week and winds were excessive late in the week. The wind was gusting to 29 mph on Friday along the central Mississippi River, which prevented our flight.
We had a push of ducks into the Illinois Valley this week. Teal numbers (21,945 teal) were up 144% from last week, but down nearly 20% from the 10-yr average for the 3rd week in September. I noticed a few gadwall and American wigeon on this week’s count and northern shoveler and northern pintail numbers continue to increase. Some of our ducks may depart central Illinois this weekend as the temperatures drop into the low 50s and upper 40s. However, there is a northwest coming out of the prairies on Friday afternoon and evening, which could bring a few more teal to Illinois this weekend.
A friend and colleague of mind sent me this link the other day. The link gives a visual of real time wind movements across the country. It is a pretty unique tool to help us predict migration events. Check it out! Thanks Jeff Levengood!
How many teal and pintail do you see in the attached photo? Check out our Facebook page for the number… Good luck teal hunting on this last couple days of the season.
Stay tuned for more updates next week…