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Brood surveys on the Seney Refuge in northern Michigan indicated a general 
decline in black ducks, mallards, baldpates, wood ducks, blue-winged teals and 
ring-necked ducks, all of which use the refuge marshes. There was also a down- 
ward trend in Canada goose production on the basis of a comparison with brood 
surveys of the past two years. The smaller brood sizes noted here reflected the 
Same trend on other refuge nesting grounds used by Canada geese. 
Opportunities for nesting throughout the Upper Mississippi Refuge are rather 
limited, and the potentialities are minimized as a result of fluctuating water levels 
in the navigation pools. A survey of about 50 percent of the potential breeding 
habitat indicated a slight increase in the number of broods as compared with the 
number recorded for the previous year. Wood ducks were by far the greatest 
nesters, while there were lesser numbers of mallards, blue-winged teals and 
black ducks. 
Central Flyway 
Flood conditions during the early spring provided an abundance of nesting 
habitat in the Bowdoin area, as well as throughout a large section of eastern 
Montana, and the 50 percent decline in the number of duck broods as determined 
from the series of field surveys is not a true reflection of productivity in that area, 
as pintails, mallards and blue-winged teals made good use of the numerous tempor- 
ary potholes throughout the general area. After a progressive increase over a 
period of ten years, the Bowdoin goose colony seems to have approached the capacity 
of the refuge nesting grounds. About 200 goslings were raised in 1942; this year's 
figure was 2,000. Losses from botulism were extremely light considering water 
conditions. In addition, there was little evidence of predation. 
On the Medicine Lake Refuge in Roosevelt and Sheridan Counties in eastern 
Montana, early observations indicated a sharp decline in the local nesting population. 
However, a greater number of broods was counted than was recorded in the 1951 
surveys. Shovelers, baldpates and canvasbacks showed some decline, while redheads 
and green-winged teals made substantial gains. The Canada goose nesting colony 
Started a few years ago has made no significant gains; however, it continues to hold 
its own, There were no losses from botulism at Medicine Lake, and predation was 
considerably below last year's level, possibly due to an intensive skunk control 
campaign carried out during the early spring and through the nesting season. 
On the Red Rock Lakes Refuge in southwestern Montana, no goose broods were 
observed for the third straight year. A few adult Canadas continue to frequent that 
locality throughout the spring and summer months. Thus, it appears that this 
breeding colony has not suffered serious losses from hunting pressure or from other 
factors. Possibly the increased trumpeter swan population has had some bearing on 
the Canada geese forsaking nesting territory used in previous years. There was no 
Significant change in the number of lesser scaup, gadwalls, mallards, ruddies, 
baldpates, shovelers and green-winged teals in comparison with production figures 
for last season. 
The nesting marshes on the Crescent Lake Refuge in Garden County, Nebraska 
continued to suffer from high water levels for the fourth straight year. Levels in the 
Sandhill Lakes have interfered with nesting by puddlers, as well as by diving ducks. 
