Still farther south in the Mississippi River valley, 

 at Batchtown, Illinois, was Edward A. Davis, who re- 

 ported that at daybreak on November 2 thousands of 

 newly arrived mallards were resting on the river. For 

 the remainder of the day, flocks filled the air at alti- 

 tudes ranging from several hundred to 2,000 feet. As 

 the flocks moved southward, only a small fraction of the 

 flying ducks stopped at nearby refuges. Davis esti- 

 mated that he saw 600,000 to 900,000 ducks, the bulk 

 of which were mallards; with the mallards were smaller 

 numbers of lesser scaups, ring-necked ducks, canvas- 

 backs, pintails (Anas acuta), gadwalls, and widgeons. 

 Unusually large numbers of massed groups of 2,000 or 

 more ducks were in evidence. Reports of hunters and 

 farmers who were near the mouth of the Illinois River 

 on November 2 indicated that ducks migrated in a belt 

 approximately 40 miles wide across Jersey County, 

 Illinois. 



Along the Mississippi River in extreme southern 

 Illinois, George C. Arthur first noticed the mass mi- 

 gration at 10:00 A.M. on November 2. The ducks, most 

 of them mallards, were flying between the river channel 

 and the valley bluff; the migration continued at least 

 until dark. 



At this point the mass flight extended 60 or 70 

 miles to the west, at least as far as Lake Wappapello, 

 Missouri. At Mingo Swamp National Wildlife Refuge, 

 adjacent to Lake Wappapello, Lyle Schoonover observed 

 a heavy flight through the area on November 2 and 3. 

 About 50,000 mallards stopped at the refuge, from which 

 there was a gradual departure during the next 10 days. 



In driving the 40 miles from Puxico east to Sikes- 

 ton, Missouri, on the morning of November 2, Schoonover 

 observed scattered flocks of southbound ducks at alti- 

 tudes of 400 to 1,000 feet. On the same day, Richard 

 Vaught in driving southwest 50 miles from Cape 

 Girardeau to Puxico observed a continual procession of 

 migrating ducks, most of them mallards. 



Wisconsin. "There were 22 reports, from many 

 sections of Wisconsin, of unusually large flights of 

 waterfowl between October 30 and November 5. 

 Laurence R. Jahn extracted comments from the reports 

 submitted by field personnel of the Wisconsin Con- 

 servation Department. Specific dates relating to the 

 flights were not given in all cases, but two observers 

 reported movements for October 30, two for October 31, 

 one for November 1, seven for November 2, and four for 

 November 3. 



Some of the reports regarding waterfowl movements 

 in Wisconsin at that time were as follows: In Burnett 

 County in the northwestern part of the state, a very 

 heavy mallard flight started the evening of October 31; 

 it was still heavier on November 1 and 2. In addition, 

 75 whistling swans (Olor columbianus) were seen flying 



south over the Crex Meadows on November 2; other 

 swans were reported in migration over Winnebago 

 County on November 2. On November 3, at Lake Poygan, 

 in the same county, 20-30 flocks of swans, numbering 

 30-75 birds per flock, were observed flying southeast. 

 Peak numbers of ducks were reported on November 2. 



Several reports were from the Wisconsin River area 

 in Iowa and Dane counties. One field man in that area 

 reported a good flight of ducks on November 2, with 94 

 flocks in migration near Arena. Another observer in the 

 same area stated that there were heavy flights of mal- 

 lards and diving ducks on October 30 and November 2. 

 He estimated that 1,000 ducks passed over in 3*2 hours 

 on October 30 and 4,000 in 4/i hours on November 2. 

 Flocks were large, flying high, and heading east, south- 

 east, south, and southwest. The flight was light there 

 on November 3. 



A large duck flight was reported on November 2 in 

 Jefferson County, in the southeastern part of the state. 

 In Lafayette County, in the southwestern corner of the 

 state, 10 flocks of geese and many ducks were noted 

 the same day. 



Michigan." Harvey K. Nelson, who for several years 

 had observed waterfowl movements through the Saginaw 

 River valley and Saginaw Bay area of Michigan, in 1955 

 assisted the Michigan Department of Conservation in 

 periodic waterfowl censuses of that area. 



Nelson reported that local hunters saw large 

 flights of ducks, primarily redheads, canvasbacks, and 

 mallards, moving into and through Saginaw Bav on the 

 afternoon of October 31. During an airplane census 

 flight on November 1, he observed small groups of red- 

 heads, canvasbacks, and scaups flying over Saginaw- 

 Bay from the northwest to the southeast, but, at that 

 time, no mass movement was in evidence. However, on 

 November 2, hunters reported mass flights of ducks and 

 excellent hunting. Migration was further evinced by 

 observation of increased numbers of mallards, black 

 ducks (Anas rubripes), redheads, and scaups in the 

 Saginaw River marshes on November 2 and 3. A major 

 exodus of widgeons took place on those dates. 



Iowa. --The flight of waterfowl through Iowa on 

 November 2, according to James G. Sieh, ran into mil- 

 lions of birds. The migration first appeared in the lake 

 region of the northwestern part of the state late in the 

 afternoon of November 1. By daylight the following 

 morning, migration was well underway, rhroughout the 

 day, Sieh saw large flocks of mallards pass nonstop 

 over Big Spirit Lake in a southeasterly direction. Other 

 flocks of mallards, which had alighted on Big Spirit 

 I^ake during tlie afternoon or night before, took flight 

 periodically throughout the morning, as they, too, joined 

 the migrating stream of ducks. Only a few flocks of 

 diving ducks departed during the morning, but, late in 



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