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Area IIT - Lester T. Magnus - Roseau - Auto transects totaling 213 miles were 
driven in Lake of the Woods and Koochiching Counties, and a canoe transect was 
run on Pine Creek Pothole in Roseau County. Auto transect data indicate .53 
pairs per square mile compared with .25 in 1951 and .95 in 1950. Ducks per 
square mile were .66 compared with .40 in 1951 and 1.66 in 1950. Occupancy of 
water areas was 11.1 percent compared with 14.7 percent in 1951 and 14.8 percent 
in 1950. The auto transect in Lake of the Woods County (96 miles) again showed a 
decline in the number of ducks seen, probably due again to extremely dry conditions, 
the county being even drier than in 1951. The Koochiching County transect (117 miles) 
was altered this year to shorten the route and to include better waterfowl habitat, 
accessible by more passable roads. The number of pairs per Square mile was .75 
compared with .19 for 1951. While the 1952 and 1951 data are not directly 
comparable due to the change in route, it is believed that the duck population in 
Koochiching County is about the same as in 1951 due to the dry conditions. The 
canoe transect of Pine Creek Pothole, Roseau County, was run on May 14. A total 
of 417 waterfowl was tallied this year as compared with 359 for 1951. An increase 
was noted in the number of gadwalls on the pothole. The brood season in Area III 
was very erratic, particularly in the western portion. Brood counts were made on 
Pine Creek Pothole, Roseau County; Battle Lake and Rat Root Lakes, Koochiching 
County; and the south and west shores of Lake of the Woods. The early spring would 
lead one to believe that the broods would be mostly Class III by the time the counts 
were made in July. However, this was not the case entirely, and it was noticed that 
areas visited several times during the month of July showed more broods late in the 
month. A good example of this is Pine Creek Pothole, where complete counts were 
made on July 1, 7, and 14, and a partial count was made on July 28. The count on 
July 1 showed 8 broods; July 7, 11 broods; July 14, 15 broods; and July 28, 20+ 
broods. One count was made in early July of 1951 and 54 broods were tallied. Water 
levels, particularly in the western portion of Area III, were very low and remained 
low with a probable drop in waterfowl production for the area. A total of 51 Class "A" 
broods, totaling 318 young was tallied, giving an average brood size of 6.2. Last 
year the final average brood size was 8.8. Of interest are two broods of Canada geese 
seen by Warden-Pilot John Parker along the south shore of Lake of the Woods on several 
occasions. 
Area lV - Robert E. Farmes, Thief River Falls - Ground transects totaling 306 miles 
were run in Areal V, and counts were made on the following specific areas: Lower 
Twin Lake, Kittson County, Thief Lake and ditches on north side, Marshall County; 
Canvasback Pothole, Mahnomen County; and 15 potholes in Mahnomen and Polk Counties. 
When ground transect data were summarized, there were 3.42 water areas per square 
mile in 1952 compared with 5.22 in 1951. Occupancy.was 21.4 percent this year 
compared with 13.7 percent last year. The number of pairs tallied per square mile 
was slightly higher than last year, 1.33 compared with 1.18. However, the number 
of ducks per square mile was slightly less than last year, 2.2 compared with 2. 38 
for 1951. An increase of 75 percent in the number of breeding pairs was recorded on 
Thief Lake this year. Forty-two pairs of ducks were noted along North Patrol Road 
ditches on Thief Lake compared with 24 pairs last year. Thirty-eight pairs were 
noted in the Mahnomen and Polk County Pothole study area compared with 7 last year. 
Blue-winged teal have been the "No. 1'' breeding bird in Area IV in both years. 
Mallards were again in second place, the third place spot held by ringnecks last year 
was taken over by redheads this spring. Coots showed a slight increase, but are still 
way down from the 1950 count. Brood counts were made on 8 specific areas. These 
areas are Florian Slough, Thief Lake and Thief Lake Ditches, Marshall County; 
