First Freeze, First Snow, First Blonde

[Crazy_Farmer]

Boy oh boy was it cold out there this morning, not to mention the strong cross wind we had on the sides of our faces. Got out there with plenty of time to snuggle in and try to stay warm before shooting hour. My brother(mattchu_19) bought his lab a mutt hutt for him to stay in to keep warm and better camo, took awhile for him to adjust to it but after a bit he would sit with just his head out and watch the birds come in and then run out to retrieve them. Had around 3 dozen floaters out, mallards, wigeon and teal. Lots was flying trying to find a spot out of the wind to rest. A large flock of mallards came in and we shot 4 out of the bunch and when the dog brought one back we noticed it was a very rare bird, a blonde mallard, pretty neat to see and good sized, it didnt look like a true albino probably a genetic hybrid with farm raised ducks but very cool nevertheless. Two of the drakes were each over 2 1/2 pounds they were simple massive so we gave them to our grandparents to roast them. Pretty good hunt, I guess we were rewarded for sticking it out in the cold. When we packed up our decoys, they were covered in ice, the bag was frozen, I couldnt feel my fingers but the smile on our faces was priceless. 12 total, all mallards and two wigeon.
http://members.shaw.ca/stevensml/hunting/dec%201st.jpg
http://members.shaw.ca/stevensml/hunting/dec%201st2.jpg

[Steeleco]

Good shooting, how come we have more snow in Langley that you fellas?
I might have to ply this hills tomorrow after all.

[ruger#1]

Hey crazy , i was up on nicomen mountain all night and it was a cold one.

[Crazy_Farmer]

Yea, we're kindod like sumas in a way, its a big wind tunnel that goes through, pretty much all of mission has snow but anything that falls out here the wind pushes it west, we get some pretty wicked drifts out our way too, 8-10 feet over the road, no kidding. City plows dont much like to come down and if they do, they get stuck and we have to pull them out with our tractors. You get a couple snowed in days a year which is nice.

[Dano]

Never seen a "Blondie", thanks for posting the close-up.
We went tot he Pitt Marsh yesterday, it was frozen up but we busted ice all the way to the blind and made a nice opening out front. Strong wind off the lake, it looked promising..... but the ducks didn't co-operate. Tom and I ended up with 13, 9 mallard drakes, one hen, 1 drake gadwal, and a pair of widgeon. We had singles come in except for the widgeon, had a couple birds buzz the decoys but we were hugging the propane heaters and didn't see them come in! No large flights decoyed and we only saw a couple of flights all day and the biggest was 6 birds. Had the marsh to ourselves though!
Maybe next week will warm up and the birds will be flying again.
Dan

[Crazy_Farmer]

Yea, we went out again this morning to a different spot which held a bit more birds yesterday. Completely frozen over but we broke it up, had lots flying and even landing on the ice before shooting hour but only ended up with a couple mallards becuase nothing was flying at all, I guess they all bunched up somewhere safe out of the cold and wind. A ton of geese were flying and landed close to us though, tons of lessers and little guys, a flock of about 20 honkers came over and one looked out of place and with them was a single snow goose, my dad also saw it with his binoculars from the house as they were flying around. Hope it stays around till the 15th, I'm pretty sure its the same one we saw a month back.

[Ian F.]

Boys,

I'd be putting my money down that blondie is a cross between a domestic duck and a either a domestic mallard, or wild. Whenever a wing like that comes up at the wingbee (CWS wing survey) it's simply classified as "barnyard". No matter it's origins a cool bird indeed!

Dano,


..... but the ducks didn't co-operate. Tom and I ended up with 13, 9 mallard drakes, one hen, 1 drake gadwal, and a pair of widgeon. Dan

Just what is cooperating? If I came home with 13 out of 16 I'd say I had a great day! Top that off with being singles, you didn't educate large numbers in the process, which is always a good thing.

Ian

[Crazy_Farmer]

I've been reading a few articles and also been put in touch with a senior biologist for CWS from ab/sask whos getting back to me on info but its funny becuase all farm or domestic ducks originate from mallards except the muscovy. So it could easily be a wild duck that paired with a farm one and then a couple ducks down the line the leucism(fancy word for light coloured pigment) gene came out, not a true albino just lighter, theres also a dark coloured plumage(melanism) my dad a couple years ago shot a mallard that was jet black, even the whole bill was, which seems to fit the gene. Also they say it happens more times in females which mine was also.

[Ian F.]

If you are educating me, I should let you know that I am a fish and wildlife ecologist by training and trade and could call myself a waterfowl ecologist on a good day.

Very best,

Ian

[BayBoy]

If you are educating me, I should let you know that I am a fish and wildlife ecologist by training and trade and could call myself a waterfowl ecologist on a good day.

Very best,

Ian

:roll::roll::roll::roll:

[Crazy_Farmer]

:roll::roll::roll::roll:

Haha you beat me to it, oh the drama

Ian no I was not trying to educate you and anybody else whos reading that post, you made your post and I do agree that somewhere along the line it could easily be a cross with a domestic, it happens, just simply stating for others, what and why its called when it occurs. You obviously knew all that info, and it wasn't like I said in my post "You're wrong....this is what I think happened" no I said and to quote my post

"all farm or domestic ducks originate from mallards except the muscovy. So it could easily be a wild duck that paired with a farm one and then a couple ducks down the line the leucism(fancy word for light coloured pigment) gene came out"

[BoomBoom]

If you are educating me, I should let you know that I am a fish and wildlife ecologist by training and trade and could call myself a waterfowl ecologist on a good day.

Very best,

Ian


:roll::roll::roll::roll:
.... the smilies say it all!!

...carry on Crazyfarmer...I enjoy reading you posts on bird hunting.

[Ian F.]

Just seeking clarification on your intentions, and providing you with a little info.

Ian

[Crazy_Farmer]

Not a problem, the internet can be a funny place with the lack of emotion through the posts you make. Without the use of smilies you can easily mix up what someone is trying to say. ;);):smile:

[Tanya]

Tanya's hubby John here;


We went down to the salt water on Sunday. It was snowing like mad and a strong flood tide. Me and Tanya got 11 birds before the high water pushed us out. Only about two hours total. 1 mallard 3 pintails and 7 widgeon. Now the snow is all gone the fields at home are completely flooded and the three acres of corn that we couldn't get off are just loaded with mallards. Can't wait for the flood to go down a little and a morning off.
Cool duck Crazy Farmer . I shot one a few years back that appears to be a mallard pintail cross. mallard size and shape but pintail colors and was flying with a flock of pintails.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v290/TRV58/2ducks.jpg

[Crazy_Farmer]

I believe the Mallard/Pintail cross is the most common hybrid duck, and after that the mallard/woodie. Neat picture too.

[Crazy_Farmer]

I took these pictures on sunday. They seem a bit high but they were just about to land in a nearby field before some other duck hunters fired a single shot and scared them all away. :roll: Nothing you can do I guess but they're back now. Pretty much all lessers and some cackling geese, a few honkers flew over a bit later. In the first picture I counted over 200

http://members.shaw.ca/stevensml/hunting/snowy.jpg

http://members.shaw.ca/stevensml/hunting/snowy2.jpg