123 
WATERFOWL BREEDING GROUND SURVEY IN THE ST. JOHN ESTUARY 
Brian C. Carter 
Introduction 
This is the 8th consecutive year that the survey has been carried out in 
the St. John Estuary and as the method has not changed, all results are comparable. 
Phenology 
Canada geese were the first of the waterfowl to arrive on the study area 
this year. They appeared on March 13 and were 17 days earlier than their average 
arrival date of March 30. Next to arrive were the black ducks on March 17 as 
compared with their average arrival date of March 27. The black ducks were 
closely followed by the goldeneyes on March 19 (average March 26), wood ducks on 
April 6 (average April 8), ring-necked ducks on April 13 (average April 19), brant 
on April 20 (average April 11), blue-winged teal on April 29 (average April 19), 
pintails on May 3 (average April 23), green-winged teal also on May 3 (average 
April 21), mallards on May 3 (average April 16), and scaup on May 5 (average 
April 16). 
The ice broke up in the St. John River on April 13 which was 9 days later 
than last year but was 4 days earlier than the 126-year average of April 17. 
The annual freshet was slow in attaining its full height, but due to a very 
wet spring and early summer the water level was consistently higher than normal 
during the breeding season. The continuous high water held back the development 
of many of the aquatic plants in the area--many of the species (notably. wild rice) 
had not seeded by the middle of August. There was little water fluctuation to 
disturb the ground-nesting species of ducks. . 
Hatching Success and Brood Survival 

Table I shows the hatching success and brood survival for 1952 and 
compares this year with the average for the years 1945 to 1952 inclusive. 
A larger number of broods were observed than in the past two years in 
spite of the difficulty of locating Class I broods which stayed in the primary rearing 
covers longer than usual due to the higher water level, This year most classes of 
broods were larger than usual and the decrease in brood size from Class I to Class II 
was small in most cases. When the water level started to drop in late June and the 
broods were forced into more open water the reduction in brood size was more 
evident. In general all brood sizes were larger than the average this year. Higher 
water levels appear to mean more and better cover with better protection for the 
broods during their early life, and consequently larger Class I and Class II broods 
result, 
