Fall may have arrived, finally

Jeff Reardon

Jeff Reardon

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We had our first frost yesterday--about a month late. It didn't freeze again last night, and temps are headed back into the 70's tomorrow, but the leaves are changing and local critters finally seem to be acting like it's fall.

A friend and I sat on my local pond yesterday and saw the season's first flock of ringnecks and the first good flight of wood ducks we've seen there this year. We were about 50 yards from the right place to sit--a mistake I corrected this morning to take a limit of woodies within 15 minutes of legal shooting light.

The only downside is that the flight has been ending well before the sun gets up, so I was unable to ID drakes on the wing and ended up with three hens. No tying feathers except a little CDC from around the preen glands.

Still waiting to see decent numbers of black ducks, and I think the teal have mostly headed south without my ever finding them with shotgun in hand.
 
about the same here in upstate NY

had the scrape the frost of the windshield yesterday - nice today

looks like lots of rain next week and the weatherman said this morning that we will get a blast of weather (higher elevations stuff) middle of next week - season opens that next Saturday - the 28th
 
Long Island is a mess. 68* each MORNING with either still air or big damp wind. The meadow aren't even brown yet, but ducks starting to show.
 
lots of flights the past day or two. Good weather, but warm. Next couple weeks is fun stuff.
 
I think its been cooler in south AL than it has been in y'alls neck of the woods the last few days.
We had 45 on the back porch this morning, which is a little lower than seasonable.
Forecast is for a high of 62 this coming Saturday, which is about 5 degrees below normal
 
Carl said:
I think its been cooler in south AL than it has been in y'alls neck of the woods the last few days.
We had 45 on the back porch this morning, which is a little lower than seasonable.
Forecast is for a high of 62 this coming Saturday, which is about 5 degrees below normal
Click to expand...

It has been 70 and windy the past something like 36 hours (night and day). Very weird weather.
 
Pouring rain and howling wind last night. I had two trees down across my driveway this morning--both dying trees I knew I had to deal with soon, and now sooner than I expected.

Wind has died, but it's still pouring. I'd guess we've had 2-3 inches of rain, but maybe more than that.

I think our low last night was low 60's. It's 66 now. We've only had a single frost, and that wasn't hard enough to kill my tomatoes, which are still producing.

If this big storm every clears out of here and the wind shifts NW, I expect a lot of birds to be on the move.
 
It was 38* this morning in West TN. It has warmed up to 58* with sunshine today which doesn't feel too bad as long as you stay in the sun. May be below freezing here this weekend. Liable to be in the 80's next week though!
 
i retrieved a bunch of temperature data loggers in the last week or so. We are continuously monitoring stream water temperature on some coastal brook trout streams.

We actually saw water temperatures rise in October at several of our sites--and that's after a pretty warm August and September.

I cannot remember such an extended long warm period in the fall. it's like I moved to New Jersey or Delaware.
 
Sadly, it cost two people their lives here. A couple was swept off the northeast tip of Presque Isle (Known locally as the black rocks, since it is a basalt formation that lines the cove.) despite the road into Presque Isle being closed due to the storm. Wave heights peaked at 25' with wind gusts over fifty mph. and average wind speeds over 40mph accompanied by nearly three inches of rain. Birds are on the move now...
 
Fall arrived here today for real.

Everything was moving from Red Fox to deer. Many fresh buck rubs, scrapes and turkey scratchings. Crows and blackbirds galore.

A decent NW wind and leaves finally falling in mass, most without much color. A fine day to be in the woods and take it all in.

Water where there has not been any for awhile, and more rain. Possible snow in the forecast for early next week. Many local ducks have already gone. Waiting for new arrivals.

Saturday is the first day. Hopefully a out of the way Beaver dam, acorns and Wood Ducks await.

As in years past, the Old Duck Hunter trilogy is must reading before bed.

Tis The Season!
 
forecast is for 68 degrees for opening day here in upstate NY

at least they dropped the heavy rain from it
 
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