Ring-necked duck numbers should be peaking now in Minnesota, and cooler weather and northwest winds could move more migrating ducks into the state. Some 200,000 ringnecks were counted last week at Rice Lake National Wildlife Refuge near McGreagor. Hunting has been fair, the DNR says. Generally this time of the duck season is considered the doldrums. And many reports last week reflected that. But near Lake Benton, hunters have been bagging limits of teal. And near New Ulm, a number of hunters shot limits of blue-winged teal and wood ducks. Hunters also shot limits near Plainview. Steve Cordts, DNR waterfowl specialist based in Bemidji, was duck hunting last week when he spotted two black scoters. They breed in far northern Canada and Alaska and typically winter on the Atlantic coast. "A few are shot in Minnesota, but they are rare,'' said Cordts. See Cordts's weekly waterfowl migration report at www.startribune.com/a741.