In mid-November of 1962, while driving to the quaint town of Anna, I had my first exposure to the mind-boggling goose migrations that annually beset southern Illinois. Wave after wave of circling Canadas hovered over picked corn fields attempting to land in scant spots not already covered with other flocks of geese.

Flyway expectations in southern Illinois remained much the same through the late 1980s. Multi-hundred assemblies of geese annually driven by weather and hunger to Illinois' southernmost tip were awaited by thousands of hunters burrowed chest high in pit blinds ranging from elaborate to makeshift. It seemed to be an unending ritual that would stand the test of time. Then things changed. The Central and North waterfowl zones started tallying a bigger percentage of Illinois' goose harvest. (Continued)

According to climatologists, of the last 20 upper Midwest winters, eight averaged 3.1 degrees less than normal and 12 averaged 4.5 degrees more than normal. In the last 10 years, seven averaged almost three degrees more than normal. The nation's warmest year of record was 2006 when the average was 55 degrees, 2.2 degrees more than the norm. Many scientists warn that we must slow global warming by reducing auto and factory emissions by no less than 70 percent. If we do not, they predict our earth's temperature could rise 9 degrees before the end of this century.

Though warmer winters have prompted geese to dawdle longer in the top half of Illinois, there are other factors that have significantly changed the perennial patterns of their migrations. Two decades ago, no-till planting, for example, was more earnestly practiced in Illinois' South Zone than in the Central and North zones. This alone exposed more food for ducks and geese in surrounding areas of the southern refuges -- Union County, Horseshoe Lake and Crab Orchard. Fuel and fertilizer costs, the average farm size and ever-changing seed genetics have transitioned more Illinois farmers to no-till practices. The bottom line: When geese locate food and aren't pushed away by cold, snow, ice or hunting pressure, they usually stay.

Once known as the goose-hunting mecca of the central United States, southern Illinois now is recognized as much for ducks as geese. It's taken on the amusing moniker "Little Arkansas," which satirically describes its growing populations of smaller waterfowl species that attempt to winter here during milder winters. Though Illinois' South Zone still experiences banner goose seasons, Central and North zones hunters have begun sharing the limelight by posting greater numbers of geese each year.

Migrations have been progressively zeroing in on the more northerly open-water haunts and annual-recurring food sources.

THE SOUTH ZONE
The few in the science community who don't totally buy into the global warming theory blame much of our erratic weather on the cyclical effects of El Niño and La Niña in the ocean jet streams. El Niño is an oscillation of the ocean-atmospheric system in the tropical Pacific that defines important consequences for weather around the globe. La Niña is defined as lower than normal sea-surface temperatures in the central and eastern tropical Pacific that influences global weather patterns. La Niña conditions recur every few years and may persist for as long as two years. Both El Niño and La Niña are extreme phases of a naturally occurring climate cycle and both greatly affect waterfowl's built-in barometer