UNC Sea Grant 



3 69, 



F; 



V 



November/December, 1981 



NORTH CAROLINA STATE LIBRARY 

 RALEIGH 



rN. C. 

 J DOC. 



coast Swatch 



Photo by Michael Halminski 



DEC 29 \m 



Three companions search the frozen sound for a bite to eat 



Autumn settles in on a cloud of southbound wings 



Let the first chill of autumn sidle 

 over North Carolina and you can bet 

 thousands of waterfowl will be setting 

 their wings southward. Some ducks, 

 geese and swans merely pass through 

 the state en route to a more southerly 

 destination, but thousands of water- 

 fowl skitter into North Carolina lakes, 

 marshes and sounds for the winter. 



By late December, mallards, black 

 ducks, wigeons, teals, Canada geese, 

 whistling swans, pintails, redheads, 

 canvasbacks and more have settled 



into areas like Currituck Sound, Lake 

 Mattamuskeet, Pamlico Sound and 

 the lower Cape Fear River. There, 

 they fill their bellies with marsh grass, 

 wild celery, acorns and occasional 

 "leftovers" from a farmer's corn crop. 

 And about the same time, they become 

 targets for hunters. 



Hunting season is intermittent in 

 this state with opening and closing 

 dates and bag limits set by the N.C. 

 Wildlife Resources Commission. The 

 populations of some species such as 



whistling swans and canvasback ducks 

 (in certain areas) are low and are 

 protected from hunting. 



The early arrivers each fall are the 

 blue-winged teal. They wing in during 

 late September and early October. The 

 peak for duck season is mid- 

 November, says Steve Frick, refuge 

 manager at the Lake Mattamuskeet 

 National Wildlife Refuge. Geese arrive 

 by early December, while swans make 

 their debut around Christmas, he says. 



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