PATTERNS OF LOCAL MOVEMENT 



of open water, the travel usually is straight and direct. But where the land- 

 scape has outstanding landmarks, the flight may be influenced by these. 

 Where, for example, an open body of water is broken by an island, flight 

 lines generally cut close to the isle. Where a bay has an undulating shore- 

 line or clumps of islands, the trails digress according to these land patterns. 

 Travel frequently follows the shoreline, usually swinging around rather than 

 across points of land jutting into the bay. Where the shoreline is much 

 broken, the trail moves from point to point. The main course of travel sel- 

 dom swings over islands, more frequently following the waterways between 

 them. 



The height at which the bird moves greatly influences the course of 

 travel. When flying low, a duck tends to obey land patterns in almost every 

 detail; a shoreline or a creek is followed through all its meanderings. When 

 moving high, the flight is more direct. The general course of a creek is 

 followed, for instance, but the line of flight "cuts corners" and does not wind 

 as the creek does. 



On several recent occasions the establishment of new trails has come in 

 response to changes in the pattern of the marsh. In the late autumn of 1945 

 a pond was dug at Station headquarters, located in a dry field where ducks 

 seldom crossed. Next spring, waterfowl began using it, and in their approach 

 arrived along regular flight paths never used before. In a south wind the 

 line most frequently taken by Blue-winged Teal cuts over my yard, and 

 we now see ducks flying past the kitchen window, where they seldom came 

 before. 



The tight adherence to trailways is well known to the hunter who sets 

 out his rig of decoys where the ducks will cross. Gunners often refer to the 

 pathways as "leads," and the most successful native guides are those who 

 are familiar with these in any wind. Some locations are "handed down" from 

 father to son among the guides. Old Dan Ducharme once took me to a lead 

 where the Duke of York had shot when he visited the marsh in 1901. This 

 place is still a choice location for gunning Canvasback in a south wind. 



No doubt every marsh and lake across the land has its leads and passes, 

 its "Narrows" or its "Hole-in-the-wall" where generations of gunners have 

 shot. Wildfowlers, as a matter of fact, distinguish "pass shooting" from other 

 types of gunning, and some of the most famous duck-hunting places are at 

 passes. When a gunner travels to a new ground, he spends the first day of 

 his visit studying the pattern of the flights to detect the flight lines. One 

 old-time gunner visiting Delta for the first time spent a few minutes with a 



11 



