WATERFOWL BREEDING GROUND SURVEY IN THE ST. JOHN ESTUARY, NEW BRUNSWISE, 1949 
Bruce §&. Wright 
Introduetion 
The eurvey of thie ares hae been carried out each year since 1945 when 
it wee initiated aa a DIncks Unlimited project. The purpose of the work haa 
been to study in detall the breeding ecology of the waterfowl of a mareh in 
the Nertheaet Coastal Zone. The census of the breeding population is tt one 
Phase of the program which begine with the first arrivale in the epring and 
ende with the departure of the last stragglera in the fall. 
Ko attempt is made to tally territorial drakes in the manner used in 
the Weat as the terr&in makes this system difficult to use. Hatching succers 
and brood survival data are gathered, and a ceneus of a 32,500 acre Study Area 
is carried out every year between July 16th and August l7th to measure the 
annual production. 
The Method of Sampling 
The estuary of the St. John River contains about 32,000 acres of Late 
eunmer waterfowl hahitat, and the Study Area of 32,500 acres maker up 26 per=- 
cent of the available habitat. There are 142 milee of shoreline in the Area, 
and it is crulesed on foot and by canoe and the ducks tallied aa to whether 
they are on o perimeter or a slough shoreline. The ducks per mile of shore=- 
line are computed for both types of shoreline, and the total population is 
arrived at by aprlying the eamrle to the whole. The percent cruise of the 
Area hee varied from Fl percent in 1946 to 98 percent in 1945 and 1947, time 
the cruise tally very closely approximates the totel population. 
Phenoloey 
Blacks arrived on the Study Area on March 2£ thie year ae compared with 
April 4, 1942 and March 76, 1947. The treakeup at Fredericton, at the upstream 
end of the ren, wes on April 5, 1949, and on April 9, 1942 and April 19, 1947, 
Wood ducks end Canada geese arrived on April 6, and mallarde the next day. 
Green-winged teal and rineg-necke arrived on April 9, and blue-wings and scaup 
on April 15. By this time the blacks had started neating. The first black 
duck brood was seen on May 17, Se compared with May 14, 1948, May 18, 1947 and 
May 14, 1946. The first flying young blacks were seen on June 22, but they 
must have been hatched farther south ae the Area wae not open at the date thie 
clutch was laid. The first flightlees black was seen flve daye later on 
June 27, a8 compared with July 9, 19485 and June 23, 1947. 
there wae practically no flood this year, which eliminated a usually 
serious loas of early neste. Glimatic conditions were exceptionally farorable 
to breeding waterfowl in the Maritime Provinces. 
Hatching Success and Brood Survival 
Table 1 shows the hatching success and brood survival for 1949 and 
compares this year wlth the average of the years 1945 to 1949. For hiack 
ducke this 12 a ful] five-year average, but for the other species no data 
94 
