66 
WATERFOWL BREEDING POPULATION AND PRODUCTION IN THE 
NEWDALE-ERICKSON DISTRICT OF MANITOBA - 1952 
William H. Kiel, Jr. 
Waterfowl returning to this district in southwestern Manitoba for the 
1952 breeding season found habitat conditions the driest since this study began in 
1949. This report gives a brief account of the breeding season and makes compar- 
isons of habitat conditions, breeding populations, and production of recent years. 
The background of this study and a description of the district are given 
in Special Scientific Report: Wildlife No. 2 (1949), p. 76. 
Personnel working on this project have been listed by Hawkins and 
Wellein in the 1952 Manitoba report under the heading "Ground Crew (special 
studies)". 
Methods 
Methods employed to measure trends in the breeding population and 
production did not differ from those described in Special Scientific Report: 
Wildlife No. 2.(1949), pp. 76-81, and Special Scientific Report: Wildlife No. 13 
(1951), pp. 50-52. - 
Habitat Conditions 
Water Levels 
Low water levels prevailed in the district following a winter with very 
little snowfall and an extremely dry spring. By May 15, the mid-point of the 
breeding pair survey, permanency class ''D'' potholes were non-existent and 
approximately 40 percent of the 'C'' water areas were dry. An indication of the 
comparative dryness of the years 1949-52 may be seen in Table 1. The statistics 
are based on 120 study potholes of ''B" and "C" permanency in a district which has 
better than average habitat in terms of semi-permanent "B" water areas. 
Table I - Water Conditions, 1949-1952 
Year Potholes dry before Potholes dry July 8-25 
September 1 (brood survey period) 
1949. 26 percent -- 
1950 3 percent -- 
1951 40 percent 19 percent 
1952 . -- 45 percent 

