Waterfowl breeding ground survey

52 Pages·1996·2.6 MB·English

STATEDOCyMEN^
JOBCOMPLETION REPORT
INVESTIGATIONS PROJECT
State of Montana Name Wildlife lKvestlgaticnS'°District1through 7
ProjectNoSo W-71°R°11 through Title Waterfowl Breeding Ground Survey
W=77=R-11
Job No, 0=1
Period Covered Mayla 1965 through JtOy 2$^ 196g
Introduction
Amajor change was initiated thisyear in conducting the ndgratoryWaterfowl
Breeding Ground Surrey inMontana, For the past sixteenyears the entire survey
was conductedbypersonnel of theMontanaFish and GameDepartment. This year,
the surveys for duckpopulations and productionwere conductedby theU, S, Bureau
of SportFisheries andWildlife, Another changewas the extent of coverage. In
thepast, the areasanpled was north and/or west of the lfc.ssouri River with trend
areas in the unglaciated prairie. This year the surveywas expanded to include
all of easternMontana, excluding the mountain areas. East and west transects
were flown and identifiedby eighteenndle segments,
A copyofthe report covering thebreeding population of ducks is appended
to this report.
The aerialbreeding population and production trend surveys of Canada geese
were conductedin theHi=Iane, East Slope and HelenaUnits in thesame manner as
in previous years. In the Flathead Valley Unit, ground counts were made as in
the past.
Weather andWater Conditions
Due to asevere winter andlate spring bresfc-up the migration ofwaterfowl
were somewhat retarded. Thisappeared to be about twoweeks in most areas ofthe
state.
Because of heavy snow coverinthe easternpart of thestate thewater
conditions were greatlyimproved over last year. This condition has prevailed
because of abovenormal rainfall in June and July, Hansen's report shows a
break downof the type and distribution ofwater areas in easternMontana,
FIB 1 6 1983
,
Breeding Pop-olations
Because of the change in thesurveyB this y^ear,it is difficult to can^^'ar^ the
datawith previous yesffSe Considering the total nimber of dudes in coirparable
breeding areas inMontana^ there appearedto be a6$%increase ever that of last
year, iriiich at that time was slightly higher than the fifteenyear arerage© This
couldbe one of the largest breeding populations of dudes that have ewerbeen
present in the state*
Production
^heproduction survey scheduled to be flownbythe Bureau ®f Sports Fisneries
and Midlife was not completed so n© qcasMtative dataare aTai,l>ableo
Considering the continued iniprovement in water conditions through themonth
of June and Julybrooding conditions should be aptinWo j^efidl flightfrom the
Central ^lywayportion of Montana shouldbe one of thebest inyears*
In the Pacific Flyway (FlatheadValli^) theproductionandbroodifig conditions
were above averageo
Goose Surveys
ffi-Llne Units The Canada goose trend census during the earlynesting season
again indicates anincrease inbreading birds over lastyear (table 1)©
The production trend in this unitwas increased over last years butwas
s\irprising3ylow considering the iasrease in the earlier census of adults (table 2),
No explanationIs evident other thanthepo-ssible effect of the retarded spring
break-up»
EastSlope UM.t2 The population trend during thenestiiig seasoa was abouttte
same"as last'year"(table 3)«
The prdoeution trend for this tsrd.t showed iitprovement over thelast two years
(tablek)« This iniereasewas acceatiiatedever lastyear because of the floodirg in
the areae There was some flooding on Tiber Reservoi^j in the WillowGreek am, due
to achangein the management plan and aresulting increase in the operating ele°
vationof the reservoir
HelenaUnitg The population trend duringthe nestingseasonremained unchanged
fromtheprevious year (table 5)o
uieproductiontrend inthis unitIs down fromlast (table 6), ^heproduction
in this unit is thelowest recorded sxnce the surveys were started in29^9o

FlatheadValleyUnits The breeding populationand productionforthis unit
remained unchanged fromlastyearbut is down somewhat frompeak yearse
Noa Goslings ~19T671 "1916^2 I96I4 1965
SummaiT
1« kmajor change was made in the conducting of the surveyjnd ijxtke survey
area,
2« The water condition again showed improvemento
3, The breeding population was up BS% over lastyear and was considerablyabove
the15year averageo
U« No dude production surveys were conductedbut conditions are considered
excellentfor production and brooding,possiblyproducing one of thelargest
fall flights inhistoryfrom easternMontana,
5o Canada goose productionintheEast Slope and Hi=Line Units showediH5)rovement
over lastyear where the production in the HelenaUnitwas dom and theFlathead
Unit remainedunchangedo
Preparedby Dale Witt Approvedby WynnFreeman
Date July -196$

c
Table 1© CanadaG©9s® PopulationTrend During Nesting Season, Hi-Liae Unit =1563=196Ii=196$o
Area P s G P s a T P s G T
B@wdoinLake 112 6 27U 106 17 21 250 1B2 17 10 391
Lakeside Marsh k3 3 2U 113 61 0 15 13? 8 7 11*3
DNreylsLoankeRes, 28A7mt l1i!14 07 1a87n8U 1579 95 133 li1**02 5781 129 33 111711*
MakaLake 1 0 0 2 9 0 0 18 6 0 0 12
Area# 7 k1 0 0 8 3 0 0 6 1 1 0 3
MAarretainW's0 Lake IX0 05 00 907 505 00 00 1100 m0 05 00 903
H©rseshoe Lake 2 1 0 5 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1
WhitewaterRes« 6@ 11 0 11*6 106 5 0 21? 50 3 11 ill*
PeaLake > 0 0 10 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Reso #U3 1 0 0 2 0 1 0 1 0 0 Q 0
Reso # 95 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 2 0 0 0 0
Vest Alkalie Reso 22 6 0 it5 k 0 91* 35 7 0 77
Res, #161 k1 3 3 111 lo 1 0 3? 9 0 0 18
WildhorseRes, 9 1 D 19 0 0 9 9 15 2 0 32
Ester Lake 11 2 22 U6 28 1 25 82 8 3 0 19
MttleWarn Res© 22 0 «15HI? S9 5 1 0 11 13 5 0
Veseth's Res* 3 9 0 15 6 1 0 13 15 k 0 31*
Hands Rese 9 1 0 25 2 k 7 15 5 3 0 13
Little NelsonRes© 3 3 0 9 8 0 0 16 1* 0 0 8
Ifeegand's Rese 12 8 36 60 15 1 27 58 1*3 6 0 92
ReSe #17 15 ii 0 31* 20 5 0 U5 31* 3 0 71
Bo Ro 12 10 3 0 23 20 0 0 1*0 0 1* 0 1*
North Chinook Res© 51 8 9 119 111 5 16 21*3 123i 15 0 261
MsClaren's Res, #1 0 2 0 2 3 1 0 7 2 0 0 k
McClarea's Res©# 2 11 2 0 2k 0 0 0 0 i* 1 0 9
Hewitt Lake h 2 3 13 3 2 0 8 2 0 0 h
Totals 575 155 13li 11*39 701 63 136 1601 788 109 3i* 1719
P-Pairs
S-Singles
G-Groups
T-Total
1
r
Table i» CanadaGoose Projuetion TrendSurff-ey, Hi=.Line Unit^ 1963-19614-196$.
1^
1963 ' 19(^k '
NB A I T NB A I T NB A I T
658 16 118 207 13 66 2?1
l8l 22 72 81
k 2fe0w 17fi @k O0wA 0 78 1Xw0y XU7I'Sk5* X4|,^
il 12 16 n 0 16
^^imaifi* Lake ri £1/ =3f aa 2iIP X6W 8 O fJi*l 8 fi)
k <tuy J" nu 128 XOUl
Aw nun un u 0 AVa UU' u0 nnu An On ouu
71d9* lid 0 Ik a n 10Q ou 70
JVCSo It n\Vj nJ? > a aa 6n fwo7l 1X*i0^ VnJ' 2fn6t kn\^0i
n.c?^o or JLVJJL, 3 ill 108 a2 0w 18 8 g x1k^^? 2k
Ester take Q Q 16 0 0 1? IX7Q
T.I-fc-hl@Warm Ria«i« 12 26 2 12 1^ 0 6 2^ J3'1X
Vp<sa+,h'^ Res. g Ik 6 12 20 38 16 38 59
Hands ReSe @ 6 10 16 2 6 8 0 k 9 13
38 9 6 10 22 10 30 62
Iftegand^sRes© 6IS 36 lOli lii6 Ik 30 ¥t 1? 22 56 95
Reso#1? 2 2l4 61 8? 2 5 7 0 3D 59 89
Bo R« 12 0 12 i*5 57 @ 0 0 0 k 9 13
NorthChiffl0@k Reso 12 76 250 338 10 68 161 239 0 72 180 252
MeClarenHs Reso #1 0 35 87 122 0 0 0 0 3 k 10 17
McClaren's ReSo # 2 17 Hi 35 66 0 6 12 18 0 k 9 13
Totals 2k2 768 2079 3089 59 25® 587 896 88 1^8 llko 1666
Af=Adult Tithjmx%
NB-Nonor unsuceessfulbreeders
T-Total