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On April 17, there was still a little snow in the southern part of the district, 
but some side roads were drifted in north of Kindersley. 
On May 10 and 11, shortly after the two dominant species had settled down to 
serious nesting, a snowstorm left snow on the ground for almost a week. There 
then followed a summer of approximately normal precipitation until mid-June and 
above average rainfall until the end of July. 
Water Conditions 
Areas of surface water on April 5 and 6 totalled 285. There were 250 areas 
of surface water on May 20, 170 on June 10 and 45 on July 16. The May-June drop 
was 32 percent this year compared to 44 percent in 1952. The May-July drop was 
83 percent in 1953 compared to 65 percent in 1952, 
Twenty-seven water gauges recorded drops varying from 0.23 inches per week 
to 3.59 inches per week for the 10-week period May 8-9 to July 15-17. Three 
successive sloughs near Eston registered drops of less than 1 inch per week as well 
as 4 sloughs near Brock, 24 miles north. In between were 4 successive areas with 
drops of over 2.50 inches per week. In addition to the usual factors involved, heavy 
showers and the wide-spread use of slough-water for mixing with herbicides and 
insecticides are important in this district. 
Precipitation from April 1 to July 23 at Kindersley was 1.40 inches above the 
normal of 5.93 inches. 
The surface water situation this year was not as bad as it might appear. The 
areas remaining in July were large (many more than 5 acres) and generally well 
Scattered. The apparent decrease in the number of sloughs was actually more an 
indication of a decrease in the size of the larger areas, 
Breeding Population Trends 
The data for the two breeding pair coverages, both ground and air, for 1953 
and 1952 are to be found in Table I. 
The breeding pair population on the transect this year was 34 percent below 
that of 1952: 
1953 : 50.1 pairs per square mile 
1952 : 75,2 pairs per square mile 
The density figure used in last year's report was the average of 4 coverages 
- 58.8 pairs. It is now felt that this was not a satisfactory method of determining 
the population and so the two 1953 coverages have been compared with the two 1952 
coverages which most closely approximate them chronologically, The pintail and 
mallard figures for May have been combined with the highest count for each of the 
other species. Many pintails and mallards seen this June were in flocks of 50 to 
200, 
Significant decreases were recorded for all species except mallard which 
showed a 22 percent increase. With a 38 percent decrease in the pintail population, 
the ratio between these two species was more nearly equal in this part of the mixed 
prairie: 
