
73 
WATERFOWL BREEDING GROUND SURVEY IN SASKATCHEWAN, 1955 
KINDERSLEY STUDY AREA 
J. B. Gollop and R. W. Fyfe 
Introduction 
Intensive breeding pair and brood surveys in the Kindersley Study 
Area were abandoned this year and greater emphasis was put on investigation of 
_ mallard renesting and the dispersal of locally raised mallards, both projects 
being phases of a study of waterfowl depredation on cereal crops. 
Other personnel participating in the project were Messrs. R. L. 
Mosher (May-July), W. H. Beck (August), N. G. Perret (August, part), W. J. 
Fisher (July, part) and D, A. Munro (May and July, part), for the Canadian 
Wildlife Service, and Wes Schmidt (June-July, part) for the Saskatchewan Game 
Branch. 
Weather and Water Conditions 
Water levels in May, 1955, were better than in the previous spring. 
Precipitation, 70 percent greater than normal between April 1 and May 15, helped 
maintain this situation and caused no serious setbacks to nesting. By June 20, 
however, the season's rainfall was down to normal (3,46" at Kindersley}. Five to 
six inches of rain during the first ten days of July put many sloughs in better 
shape than they had been in May-., but this flood was followed by two months of 
drought (less than one and one-half inch precipitation) and by mid-September many 
sloughs were dry for the first time since 1951. Mean monthly temperatures ior 
the mid-July - mid-September period wére about two degrees Fahrenheit above 
normal. 
Breeding Pair and Production Data 
On May 16 an attempt was made to census a block (18 x 22 miles) 
west of Kindersley by flying every other north-south mile line. However, a 
partial ground-air comparison indicated serious deficiencies in such an aerial 
effort carried out by inexperienced persons. A less complete coverage of the 
same area on May 28 by U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service personnel was too late 
(as was the May 16 effort) to determine the status of breeding mallards. 
