Why Now?????

Okay, let me get this straight: For 4 months I've begged for rain. For 4 months I've pleaded for rain. Despite the fact that I have desperately needed it, for 4 months I've had no rain.

Five days ago I started begging for dry weather. And of course, now its raining.

The birds have been on a night-feeding pattern. They are leaving the roost early (like 4:30 p.m.), but they're definitely most active at 5:00 and thereafter. Nonetheless, there remains a small, densely populated pocket of birds that are holding in the Home field in the mornings, and another sizable group that is hitting the field at 8:00 a.m. and thereafter. Unfortunately, that will all change today.

The night feeding pattern on the Home field ended this morning, with the arrival of this rain. Face it, birds on a night-feeding pattern rarely switch fields so long as weather patterns hold and they aren't forced by a lack of food, because flying into unfamiliar waters at dusk presents them with many risks they wouldn't encounter by flying to the same familiar field, night after night. On cloudy days, those ducks are prone to stretch their wings rather than loafing all day like they have been doing in the sunshine. Moreover, because there are no shadows on cloudy, rainy days, the ducks exploring new habitat aren't prone to predator ambushes, since the birds can see much more clearly. In summary, this shift in the weather exponentially increases the likelihood that the ducks will move to another field to feed.

To be clear, this is the worst kind of rain -- it is the kind that doesn't accumulate water in our other fields, but merely makes the birds jumpy and allows them to scout fresh water, like that recently pumped on the field immediately north of ours. Their pattern is broken, and now they've got the opportunity to switch feeding grounds. Had the dry, sunny conditions remained constant, I haven't the slightest doubt that opening morning would have ended in limits for our blind. However, given the dramatic change in conditions, I'm 100% less confident.

Cross your fingers and pray that these birds are stubborn, because otherwise we may watch someone else shoot the birds we've held for a week and a half on opening day.