A lot of movement was taking place Tuesday afternoon as ducks were moving good and heading toward fresh backwater that was beginning to offer new feeding areas as grain fields flooded and some timber received runoff.

Several big bunches of new ducks were arriving in areas that had not seen much movement lately. And, some areas are receiving water for the first time this season.

It appears many ducks were coming in from northern areas and southeast Missouri. Severe cold to our north is finally working in favor of area ducks hunters.

Aerial surveys taken Monday by U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service here at the Tennessee National Wildlife Refuge on Kentucky Lake further confirmed the migration. Biologists estimated 201,392 ducks and 4,173 geese now residing on the units here, which is 55 percent above the 15-year average for this time of year!

Additional comparisons from the USFWS data base showed present numbers were 3 percent above last year at this time and 37 percent above the 5-year average. Compared to the 10-year average ducks were up 33 percent.

The numbers are up significantly from the previous survey taken back on December 4th when 114, 390 were reported.

A breakdown of species shows mallards topping the list at 133,344. Gadwall were second at 15,676, followed by ringneck at 12,460, pintail at 11,245, and greenwing teal at 11,090, according to USFWS data.

Here in the Paris area the Big Sandy unit was holding 60, 014 out of the total count. The Duck River unit near New Johnsonville had the lion's share at 136,712, with the rest residing on the Busseltown unit south of Camden.

Although hunting had been slow late last week across much of the region things have changed quickly thanks to the recent cool spell and the influence of heavy rains that have added appeal to areas that were pretty much high and dry a few days ago.

Hunters in the Obion and Forked Deer River drainage to the west reported lots of ducks on the move Sunday and Monday as new birds entered the region. Several wildlife management areas around Kentucky Lake and to the west were seeing increased activity Monday afternoon as well.

Although warmer weather is in the forecast for the next few days it appears waterfowlers here will have more ducks in the area compared to last week at this time.