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The hard freeze and drifting snow that occurred just prior to the middle of 
May seemed to be a real threat to the 1953 waterfowl hatch. Temperatures dropped 
to 18° in parts of southern Saskatchewan during this time, and snow drifted to depths 
of 3 feet or more in some localities. Undoubtedly some duck nests were buried by 
snowdrifts, and frozen epgs were found. Had this loss been serious enough to 
disrupt the first nesting attempt, hens that lost nests should have reappeared on 
our transects, and the percentage of lone drakes should have dropped. Careful 
comparison of transects run before and after the freeze was made, and we noted 
some slight tendency for hens to reappear after May 15. But this change was not 
So great as to suggest any widespread disruption of the first-nesting attempt by cold 
weather alone. 
June 1 Forecast 
"Prospects as of June 1 indicate that Saskatchewan will turn out a good duck 
crop in 1953. There is a chance that this crop may be exceptional." 
"Our breeding population is the highest we have recorded since 1947, This 
population is favored by adequate surface water, and water conditions are improving 
steadily as the season progresses, The big question now is whether the first clutches 
of stubblefield-nesting pintails and mallards will hatch before being caught by the 
plow. If these nests hatch, the 1953 duck crop will be exceptional. If they are 
destroyed, the 1953 crop might still be substantial provided a strong and immediate 
renesting takes place," 
"We are not too much concerned at this time over possible loss of nests during 
the mid-May freeze. Considering the timing of the nesting season, any hens that 
lose nests during this period would probably re-nest. Furthermore, this cold 
weather has delayed plowing operations as much as a week or ten days in some _ 
localities, and in the long run may save more nests than it has destroyed." 
"This 1953 crop will be later than the 1952 hatch, and will have greater "spread"! 
in maturity. Even if it proves to be smaller than that of last year, it may be more 
"shootable", Late-maturing broods will migrate later in the fall, and thus be 
available to U. S. hunters during the open season. Last year's early-maturing 
pintail crop migrated so early that it escaped hunting pressure in the northern part 
of the United States," 
July Broods (Present "Stand" of Crop) 
Broods visible at the time of our July 1953 air surveys amounted to 1.6 per 
Square mile. This was far below last year's aerial count of 4.37 broods per square 
mile. However, the high 1952 brood count was due in large part to overwhelming 
success of a very early first-nesting attempt of pintails and mallards. In view of 
the lateness of the 1953 hatch, our present aerial figure of 1.6 broods per square 
mile was not discouraging. 
A look at the species of broods was enlightening. The pintail, which made up 
29 percent of our May breeding population, produced only 19 percent of the broods 
and a mere 10 percent of "Potential Later Broods" recorded on the July surveys. 
It is obvious that the first-nesting of this species was not nearly so successful as 
last year, and its subsequent re-nesting effort has not been outstanding. Without 
