71 
WATERFOWL POPULATIONS AND BREEDING CONDITIONS 
IN SOUTHERN MANITOBA, 1954 
Charles D. Evans 
Introduction 
This report will deal with the results of the aerial] survey conducted in the 
areas outline in Figure 1, as well as the banding of flightless young in the pothole 
country. Work done on the district 8 ground transects will be reported separately. 
The results of transects run by Manitoba Game Branch Conservation officers will 
be reported in appendix form. The air work flown in a Piper Super Cub and the 
banding were conducted by the following personnel. May air survey: Pilot C. D. 
Evans and observer, W. C. Newcomb of the Fish and Wildlife Service. July air 
survey: Pilot C. D. Evans, Fish and Wildlife Service and observer, Nolan Perret, 
Canadian Wildlife Service. Ground transects in district 8: G. Pospichal, Fish and 
Wildlife Service, Barkley Cram and Glen Parsons of the Manitoba Game Branch. 
Banding crew (July 10 to August 15): W. C. Newcomb, Fish and Wildlife Servic e, 
James Dahlen and Gordon Orians of the Wisconsin Conservation Department, and 
Leo Pospichal of the Michigan Conservation Department. Other population studies 
in Manitoba were carried on by S. T. Dillon on the Delta Marsh and Alex Dzubin in 
the pothole country, both under the auspices of the Wildlife Management Institute, 
Weather and Water Conditions 
Precipitation in southern Manitoba during the fall of 1953 and early spring of 
1954 varied from near-normal (meaning droughty) in the southwestern portion of 
the Province to abnormally high in the rest of the area covered. In the former area, 
as reported by Game Branch officers and indicated by their water gauge readings, 
winter snows were light and runoff was negligible. The number of ponds containing 
water during the spring run of southwestern Game Branch transects from 1951 to 
1954 were as follows: 1951 - 1,413 ponds; 1952 - 818 ponds; 1953 - 709 ponds; 
1954 - 493 ponds. In that area, waterfowl habitat started off the season in poor 
shape. Water conditions in the remainder of the two strata varied from good to 
excellent. Eight miles of transects in the west central portion of the Province 
showed little change from last year; 1954 ponds in 1953 and 180 ponds in 1954. Of 
the 120 study potholes scattered throughout the transects in district 8, six were dry 
by May 31 this year as compared to none in 1949, none in 1950, two in 1951, 20 in 
1952 and none in 1953. Four of the six dry this year were in the southwestern 
portion of the district. In other areas, water conditions were so good that many 
farmers have had difficulty getting into their fields for seeding and cultivation of 
summer-fallow. Table I shows the aerial pond count for 1954 as compared to the 
three previous years. 
