For a change, the timing of the duck opener couldn&rsquo;t be better in Missouri and Kansas.</p><p>Forget, for the moment, all the talk about climate change and past openers when the weather was more conducive to a day at the beach than in the duck blind. This is fall the way it&rsquo;s supposed to be.</p><p>With cold weather sweeping through the northern states, it has ducks on the move. And many of those waterfowl are finding an attractive landing pad in our region as Saturday&rsquo;s hunting opener approaches.</p><p>Take a look at the Squaw Creek National Wildlife Refuge in northwest Missouri. The wetlands complex, which has excellent water and food conditions, has already attracted 90,000 ducks.</p><p>That&rsquo;s 50,000 more than it was holding at this time last year &mdash; and an encouraging sign as hunters in Missouri&rsquo;s North Zone prepare to open the season.</p><p>&ldquo;It all has to do with the weather,&rdquo; said <strong>Charles Marshall</strong>, park ranger at Squaw Creek. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s been cold up north, and those fronts have resulted in some strong migrations.</p><p>&ldquo;We haven&rsquo;t seen any dramatic flights where huge numbers of ducks show up overnight. It&rsquo;s been a gradual buildup.</p><p>&ldquo;But it&rsquo;s changing daily. We&rsquo;ve seen a lot of ducks move in during the last week or two.&rdquo;</p><p> And not just the early migrants. Surveys at Squaw Creek show that 36,800 mallards have already arrived.</p><p> For hunters at private duck clubs surrounding Squaw Creek, that comes as good news. &ldquo;I&rsquo;d say things look pretty good for the opener,&rdquo; Marshall said. &ldquo;We have a lot of ducks right now, and we might have even more by Saturday.&rdquo;</p><p>But Squaw Creek isn&rsquo;t the only place where the outlook for the duck opener is encouraging.</p><p>&bull;The Grand Pass Conservation Area along the Missouri River is holding 30,000 ducks. With 17 hunting positions available for the opener, expect the 4:45 a.m. drawing Saturday to attract a crowd.</p><p>&bull;At the Marais des Cygnes Wildlife Area, 10,000 to 12,000 ducks are using the marshes, and area manager <strong>Karl Karrow </strong>said that most of the wetlands have good to very good habitat. The only exception is the C-South unit, which is still filled with standing corn.</p><p>&bull;The Bob Brown and Nodaway Valley conservation areas in northwest Missouri also have good early-season duck numbers. Bob Brown has 15,725 ducks and Nodaway Valley has 9,670.</p><p>&bull;Exceptional habitat has already drawn 9,000 ducks to the Neosho Wildlife Area in eastern Kansas.</p><p><hr class="infobox-hr-separator" /> <div class="infobox"> <strong><span class="infobox-head">The duck opener </span></strong><br /> &bull;<strong>WHEN/WHERE: </strong>Saturday in the Missouri North Zone and the Kansas Late Zone (basically eastern Kansas).</p><p>&bull;<strong>HOURS:</strong> One-half hour before sunrise to sunset, except at some Missouri managed areas that only allow half-day hunting.</p><p>&bull;<strong>MISSOURI LIMIT: </strong>Six ducks daily, including no more than four mallards (and only two hens), three wood ducks, two hooded mergansers, two redheads, two scaup, one canvasback, one black duck, one mottled duck and one pintail. </p><p>&bull;<strong>KANSAS LIMIT: </strong>Five ducks daily, including no more than three wood ducks, two scaup, two redheads and only one duck from the following group: hen mallard, mottled duck, pintail and canvasback.</p><p></div>