A study was conducted in June on the 
Copper River Delta as part of a general 
reconnaissance of earthquake damage to 
this nesting area. The nesting population 
of western Canada geese was 25 percent 
larger than in 1963. The average clutch 
size of 114 goose nests was 4. 3 eggs, 1 
egg smaller than the average. Hatching 
success was 90 percent. A sample of 35 
duck nests averaged 7.3 eggs. Hatching 
success of ducks was 65 percent. Class 
I broods of Canada geese averaged 4.0 
goslings. 
With a good late hatch of scaup it is 
doubtful whether brood production at 
Minto will exceed one-half of the 1963 
crop. The average brood size of 5. 5 
ducklings was the smallest recorded in 
the past 10 years. The heaviest de¬ 
crease was among the dabblers (table 
B-4). 
NORTHERN ALBERTA, 
NORTHEASTERN BRITISH 
COLUMBIA, NORTHWEST 
TERRITORIES, AND YUKON 
Data supplied by Robert H. Smith and 
G. Hortin Jensen, Bureau of Sport 
Fisheries and Wildlife 
Weather and habitat conditions 
A most unusual breakup occurred 
throughout the survey area. A premature 
warming began in April attended by snow 
melt forming open water pools. These 
conditions precipitated a surge of migra¬ 
ting waterfowl into the area only to be 
caught by the return of winter and the lat¬ 
est breakup in the memory of old timers. 
During this time, waterfowl were report¬ 
ed as a hazard to aircraft on the airport 
runways along the Alaska highway in 
Yukon, and numerous reports were re¬ 
ceived of southward-bound migrants. 
When spring finally broke in mid-May it 
came with a rush, with ice and open water 
conditions appearing about normal at the 
time of the survey, although ice was still 
running in the lower Mackenzie at the end 
of the survey period. 
Precipitation during the period was 
very light, occurring mostly as showers 
of rain and/or snow. Temperatures were 
about normal except that during the sec¬ 
ond week of June subfreezing temperatures 
were reported from all coastal stations 
and a low of 24 ° was recorded at Inuvik. 
Water levels along the two most south¬ 
erly transects were low in the west, but 
were improved toward the east. Sheet 
water was present in small amounts in 
the fields, but in general the pond levels 
were lower than normal. Levels on the 
Athabaska Delta were ideal in late May, 
but a rampaging flood on the Peace in 
progress early in June could alter this 
situation drastically. The Slave River 
parklands just north of the delta were 
literally brimful, with habitat conditions 
excellent. The Mackensie Delta was 
flooded again to the extent that only the 
highest ridges in the delta proper were 
above water, while the outer delta was 
merely an extension of the Beaufort Sea 
with only an occasional bush showing 
above the surface. Elsewhere, over most 
of the area, throughout the muskegs, the 
precambrian and the tundra water levels 
were about as they are from year to year 
with little change noticeable. 
Breeding population indexes 
An overall increase of 28 percent was 
recorded for the duck population. In gen¬ 
eral the increases were in the southern 
half of the survey area, with decreases 
north of the Arctic Circle with the ex¬ 
ception of stratum 7. The most drastic 
decreases were found along the rim of 
the Arctic coast, the upland tundra, 
Mackensie Delta, and the Old Crow Flats. 
This might be explained by the extremely 
late spring and breakup holding the birds 
in the more southerly areas, but the 
Mackenzie Delta has had repeated blows 
during the past several years of high 
water and floods, beating down production 
in the local population to the point where 
even the loons are becoming scarce. 
There is also the possibility that with 
water spread under brush and trees less 
of the population was visible. The outer 
5 
