Missouri. "Lewis G. Helm provided the following 

 excellent review of the 1955 mass waterfowl flight in 

 Missouri: "The impressive duck flight that began on the 

 night of November 1 in Missouri and continued through- 

 out the day of November 2 was the greatest flight of 

 ducks seen by many observers in the state. To many 

 people it rivaled the November 11, 1940, flight in both 

 speed and extent, and the number of ducks involved is 

 reported to be even greater than the 1940 flight. 



"There was some indication that the flight into 

 Missouri started on the last day of October, especially 

 in the southeast section of the state. An aerial count of 

 waterfowl was made over the northwest portion of the 

 state on October 31, but only relatively small numbers of 

 ducks were counted on the concentration areas. Squaw 

 Creek Refuge contained 36,000 mallards; Swan Lake, 

 10,000; while the remainder of north Missouri was esti- 

 mated to have but 35,000 mallards. Peak numbers of 

 Canada geese had already been reached in north 

 Missouri; approximately 50,000 geese had left the state 

 by October 31. 



"November 1 was a mild fall day in north-central 

 Missouri, with only scattered clouds and mild tempera- 

 tures, which climbed into the high 60's. By evening it 

 was apparent that a change of weather was due. By the 

 morning of the second there was snow and sleet on the 

 ground, and low clouds were racing across the sky from 

 the north and west. Ducks, particularly mallards and 

 green-winged teal, were observed flying just under the 

 cloud ceiling at about 100 feet altitude. Many birds 

 were seen on open water areas of refuge^ and farm 

 ponds throughout the northern part of the state, and by 

 afternoon observers in all parts of the state reported a 

 heavy movement of ducks. The main lines of flight were 

 along the larger rivers, such as the Mississippi, 

 Missouri, Chariton, and North Grand rivers; however, 

 ducks were seen from points located on uplands in most 

 sections of the state and throughout the Ozarks. Ap- 

 parently what took place was a broad band of migration 

 from one edge of the state to the other, with the most 

 birds flying along the major river systems. 



"The mallard was the main species involved in the 

 flight, but other species were prominent too. The green- 

 winged teal appeared in good numbers throughout the 

 state, with the greatest concentration recorded in the 

 central regions. Lesser scaup moved through the state 

 rapidly and only a relatively few thousand stayed for 

 more than 2 or 3 days. Of an estimated 50,000 scaups 

 moving into and through the state on November 2, only 

 4,000 could be accounted for on November 5. Smaller 

 numbers of other divers, notably ring-necked ducks, 

 moved through the state during and after November 2. 



"Comparing the counts made by aerial inventory on 

 October 31 with ground checks during and immediately 



after the large flight of ducks, at least 750,000 mal- 

 lards must have been involved in the flight into and 

 through Missouri. 



"An interesting facet of the November 2 flight is 

 the fact that, apart from the very eastern counties, 

 observers in Kansas noted no marked migration of 

 either ducks or geese." 



In the Sumner-Brunswick area of Missouri, flocks 

 of low-flying mallards were "pouring over" at daybreak 

 on November 2. Many flocks were dropping out of the 

 passing stream of waterfowl to alight on ponds, creeks, 

 and other small bodies of water which normally are 

 seldom frequented during the fall. The flight continued 

 most of the day, with the ducks flying south and south- 

 east. Near Paris, the flight was entirely toward the 

 southeast. 



Tennessee. —Concerning the 1955 mass migration 

 in Tennessee, Parker Smith wrote as follows: "There 

 is no question but that a huge influx of birds occurred 

 on November 2 and 3. Mallards, black ducks, ring- 

 necked ducks, and wood ducks ^Aix sponsa_J were the 

 main species on Kentucky Lake, and mallards, gad- 

 walls, baldpates, pintails, and ring-necked ducks were 

 the major species on Reelfoot Lake." 



Charles K. Rawls, at Reelfoot Lake, reported that 

 from 7:30 A.M. until dark on November 2 he saw 15-25 

 flocks containing 50-100 mallards each passing over at 

 any given moment. Many flocks streaking southward on 

 the heels of a strong north wind attempted to hook into 

 the wind and alight, but were blown backward. By the 

 morning of November 3 the flight was smaller and by 

 noon it was over. This was the largest flight of ducks 

 observed at Reelfoot Lake in the past 10 years. 



Arkansas.— Carl Hunter reported that there was no 

 evidence of a mass duck flight in Arkansas on Novem- 

 ber 1. On November 2, however, radio reports were re- 

 ceived from wardens to the effect that large numbers of 

 ducks, mostly mallards, were arriving. This flight was 

 indicated as the largest recorded single movement of 

 waterfowl into the state. The ducks appeared to arrive 

 over the entire eastern part of the state at about the 

 same time. 



On November 3, while aviating over northeastern 

 Arkansas, Hunter and David Donaldson saw numerous 

 strings of ducks flying south, some at altitudes as high 

 as 1,500 feet. Near Jonesboro. thev watched hundreds 

 of ducks scale down from 1,500 feet to join rafts of 

 ducks already resting on the Claypool Reservoir. 



Louisiana.— Richard K. Yancey observed mass 

 flights of mallards, gadwalls, green-winged teals, pin- 

 tails, and scaups arriving in Louisiana on November 2 

 and 3. He reported that smaller, but the first important, 

 flights of ring-necked ducks, canvasbacks. redheads, 

 and ruddy ducks also arrived at that time. Increased 



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