WATERFOWL BREEDING GROUND SURVEY IN OHIO, 1949 
John M, Anderson 
In 1946 the members of the Winous Point Shooting Club employed the 
writer to carry on a waterfowl-muskrat research and management program on 
their duck marsh near Fort Clinton, Ohio, As it became evident to the 
members of the club that their waterfowl program should be integrated with 
an over-all flyway plan, the writer was sent to Manitoba tn 1947 to asstat 
Biolog?'st Arthur 5, Hawkins in waterfowl breeding survey and banding work, 
local bag inspection data for the past three seasons have been gathered and 
made available to the Fish and Wildlife Service, The breeding population 
of the Winaus Potnt Club has been studied for three years. This is the first 
year, however, that a survey of the entire region has been performed, The 
program {Ss now spansored jointly by members of the following clubs: Winous 
Point, Levis, Magee, Mtelsen, Middle Harbor, Wenger, Clemons, LaCarpe, Hilker, 
West Bay, and Ritter, 
The region involved consists of a strip of marsh along the southwest 
corner of Lake Erie, between Toledo and Sandusky, roughly 30 miles long and 
emile wide. Water areas included in the survey were of three categories; 
temporary roadside ponds, artificially flooded marshes, and natural marshes, 
Coverage was by boat and on foot. On marshes of more than 2,000 acres, a 
square-mile block was sampled. On marshes ranging from 2,000 acres down to 
200, a block of 160 acres was covered, On smaller marshes, the entire area 
was covered, Six roadside ponds, 13 artificially flooded marshes of 40 acres 
or jess, and 10 marshes of from 500 to 2,80) acres were sampled, There were 
no non=productive areas, such as uphand or the open water of Lake Erie and 
Sandusky Bay tneluded in the survey. A total of 2,272 acres was covered, 
representing roughly 12 percent of the entire region, 
Table 1, Breeding Patrs on 2,272 Acres of Marshland 
Pairs Fer Percent 
species Pairs sq, Mi. of Total 
Mallard 100 28,2 25 
Black duck 52 14.4 29 
Blue=-winged teal 21 546 11 
Wood duck 4 ae 3 
Total 183 51,5 100 
Table 1 shows the species composition and number of breeding pairs per 
square mile, Cbviously, since the sample consists entirely of productive 
water areas, the total pairs per square mile (51,5) is higher than typical 
transect figurea, An annual survey of the same areas, however, should pro- 
vide trend data; and since there are only about 30 square miles of marsh in 
the region, a fair estimate of regional production may be gained. Comparable 
data on former years are not available for the entire region; but the breed- 
ing population on the Winous Feint and Magee marshes in 1949 was 20 percent 
higher than last year, 
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