62 
Banding Crew 
Arthur S. Hawkins, C. W. Newcomb, and E. N. Cole (U. S. Fish 
Wildlife Service) 
G. P. Dellinger and M. E. Weller (University of Missouri graduate 
students) 
Nan and Simon Mulder (Wildlife Management Institute) decoy operators 
General information regarding waterfowl conditions in the northern part 
of the Province was provided by Manitoba Game Branch officers. 
Personnel and equipment were deployed as follows: The Widgeon crew 
surveyed the Saskatchewan Delta and forest or tundra regions north and east of 
Lake Winnipeg. These flights extended beyond Manitoba east to Lake Nipigon in 
Ontario, northwest to Fort Smith, Northwest Territory, and northeast to 
Southhampton Island. The Piper crew covered the farmland area of Manitoba and 
eastern Saskatchewan. Findings outside Manitoba are discussed elsewhere. Game 
Branch ground transects have remained the same since their inception in 1948. 
The remaining ground work, except for general reconnaissance, was confined to 
the Newdale-Erickson District where W. H. Kiel has conducted special studies 
since 1949. (See Special Scientific Report: Wildlife No. 2 (1949), for maps 
showing locations of Game Branch and Kiel transects.) 
Methods 
A description of the aerial sampling system, methods of recording data, 
and a map showing the sampling pattern and strata locations are given in Special 
Scientific Report: Wildlife No. 13 (1951). The 1952 aerial survey differed as 
follows: 
Recalculations of the sampling intensity based on an additional year's 
data increased the distance between east-west strips in Strata A to 
7 miles, in Strata B to 24 miles, and in Strata D to 10 miles. Sample 
size in these strata became: A--390 square miles; B--200 square miles; 
D--121 square miles. In Strata C, where north-south strips are found 
preferable to those running east-west, the sample size was 81 square 
miles. A production survey was conducted only in Strata A and D because 
very low duck densities in the other strata made brood-counting 
impractical. Exploratory work in the Hudson Bay Region of Manitoba 
is described in another section. 
Standard ground survey methods were used without modification by Game 
Branch officers in sampling their transects. The more intensive methods used in 
the Newdale-Erickson District have been described by Kiel on pages 50 and 51 of 
the 1951 Special Scientific Report and in a following section of this publication. 
Weather and Water Conditions 
Weather conditions affecting waterfowl production in Manitoba during 
1952 can be summarized as follows: 
1. An unusually open winter meant little or no runoff in most parts of 
the Province, although there was a fair carry-over of water from the 
previous fall, 
