Information Sought and Methods Ossd 
Regular Trangects 
In order to secure an appraisal of the breeding population at an sarly data, 
thres complats covcragss of the transacts ware made during the peried April 21 
to June 6, and results were reported to tha Fish and Wildlife Servics Ragulations 
Committss on Jung 20. The same methods of checking tha potholes for ducks and 
of classifying ths birds aa breeders or non-bresders were used throughout tha 
seaeon. Potholss with margins not visible from thea road wars checkad by walking 
to the water's sdge or ta some other point from which tha sntirs water arsa was 
_ Vialble, No attempt was mads, howaver, to flush birds which might haves been con- 
eaaled in densgs corer, 
To classify ducks in breeding and non-bresding entegoriss, singl¢ drakese and 
single hane ware considersd a5 being breeding pairs on the transect, AS were 
birds of a peir seen togather. Groups of males or females, or a mixed party of 
both, were recorded as a ratio of males to females and not considered in ths 
breading psir figure. 
Anothsr coverags of the 12 transects was made July 5 to 26 and was valuabls 
primarily ag a brood survey. In checking regular transsct potholssa for broods, 
g aemi-intsnsivs method was used. All arsas ware checked from the water's ede, 
and in ths case of ths largar potholes, the observer would walk part-way around 
the water area. Again, as in ths brosding-population survey on the regular 
transsets, no special sffort was mads to "heat out" all of the troods on an 
area. This type of intsnsivs coverage was left for the 120 especial study patholes. 
special Study Potholss 
Theses water arsas, constituting a random tsu~-peresnt sample of the 1,250 
potholes included in the recular trangacts, wer: covered intensively for breed- 
ing population and brood data comparabls to that eatheresd on the regular trenascts. 
Checks on study args wers made at the sams time ths transescta wers coversd. 
In both brseeding-population and broad eurveys, tha study potholss wers 
combed carsfully by walking throueh any cover offering possible conesalment for 
hirds until thers remainsd littls dowbt but that all ducks and brooda had bsen 
flushed from cover. 
spacial attention was given to finding nests on tha study araas. Over- 
water neastsra wors checked more effectively than ground-nesting species dus to 
the relative sass of finding over-water nasts. 
Water-Lervel fluctustions wera massured with water gauges placed in tha 120 
potholes in late April and sarly May. 
Yesetative-cover maps wart made of all study potnoles to sid in a poasidles 
futura classification of potholes based on yeretative cover, amount of open 
water, Water depth, surrounding land us¢, and othsr cheractsristics. Attempts 
ars also being made to correlate potholes wae by breeding paira and broods with 
on¢ or 4a combination of thease characteristics. 
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