
WATERTOWL BREEDING GROUND SURVEY IN ERITISH COLUMBIA, 1949 
I, idecT, Canwan and James Hatter 
Breeding surveys by the Provincial Game Bepartment in the Provinces of 
British Columbia were first undertaken in 1948. That year axploration waa 
undertaken in the western Chilcetin during ths agring snd sarily summer, and 
the latter part of the breeding ssason was dsveted to banding opsrations in 
the Cariboo district, ths most densely populated waterfowl breeding ground in 
the Provyires. This was tha first attempt to bend on the nesting erounda in 
British Columbia, 
Thess studies were undertaken to obtain the data sssential te an under- 
Standing of ths dispersal of birds from the breeding frounds in ths Province 
and also to yiskd fieurss that will makes possibls computation of the annual 
turnover in this populaticn. At the same tins the waterfowl field partiss of 
the Provincial Game Department hays been ables ta affsct a wider coverage of 
the bracding grounds than hes been possibls proavicuely and hays tharsfore a 
largsr sampls upon which to bese population trends from Foar to year. 
During May and June 1949 a party of two men worksd jointly on a waterfowl 
raconneaissance ond en inventory of beayar colonies. It concentrated ite 
efforta north of the Grasslands of the Cariboo Parklands and consequently on 
the frings of the waterfowl ovsting habitat, 
On the first of July this party was joinsd by the senior author and began 
banding operations. Later in the month thse junior author took chargs of the 
operationg and the party was increaged to four. 
Birds wers obtained by driving into a corral-typs trap using two cancsa 
and a light dinghy. Equipment was transportsd in a truck and car. No baited 
traps of any kind were used and all birds captured were either hatched on, or 
moulting on, the study lakes, 
On the tasis of tho esxpsrisnes gained duriog th: previous summer it was 
possible to operate more sfficiently this year and in consequence the party 
wad able te extend its opsrations inte the sastern Chilcotin and south into the 
northarn part of the Nitola district after tha auitable lakes and sloughs of 
tha Cariboo district had been coversd, 
Physiography 
The physiography of the region has besn adsquately dealt with in gevsral 
othsr publications [Munro, 1945, and Munre and Cowan, 1948} and needa no 
further description hares, 
Climatic Gonditions 
Weter conditions in 1949 were even better than they had besn th: previous 
year, Almost every depression containsd watsr that remained through the summer, 
and ueating conditions for waterfowl ware idsel, Ths runoff this ysar was 
gradual and thers was littls or no svidenea of loss of nests by flooding. This 
was in contrast with 1948 when heavy flooding occurred and large? groups of 
females without brocds gathered in early July. 
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