
PACIFIC FLYWAY 
IDAHO 
Weather and Water Conditions 
The spring of 1957 will be remembered as a wet one. Pre- 
cipitation levels were average or slightly above during March and April. 
May moisture was the highest on record for the past 42 years. There 
was a surprisingly small amount of destructive flooding, but stream 
courses were carrying a full load and reservoirs were running over when 
the rains ceased, There was no evidence of large-scale nest destruction 
due to the excessive run-off. 
Breeding Population Indices 
An aerial count was taken in the major goose nesting areas 
of the State for the third consecutive year. In most areas it was possible 
to tally birds as "'pairs,'' "singles'' and "groups.'' In heavy nesting 
populations this was not possible, however, and pairs were counted, sin-~ 
gles were counted as pairs and grcups were recorded as such. In Table 1 
the "'pairs'' column includes the singles recorded as pairs. There was a 
29 percent increase in the pairs counted and a 28 percert increase in the 
total of the groups counted for an over-all increase of 29 percent over 
1956. Most noticeable increases were in the western portion of the Snake 
River drainage and the Gray's Lake and Dingle Marsh areas in eastern 
Idaho. 
Table 1] - Idaho Canada Goose Aevria! Count, 1955 - 1957 







Pairs Groups Totals _ 
Area 1955 1955 1657 1955 1956 1957 1955 1956 1957 
Snake River Drainaze 
Farewell Bend to Rail- 
road Bridge © 460 352 459 248 77 278 1168 781 1196 
Payette River (mouth 
to Emmett) 110 i09 120 4) Zi 10i 261 239 341 
Strike Dam to American 
Falls Dam | 95 56 48 $77 97 34 267 209 130 
North Fork, including 
Island Park 24 37 66 173 143 148 $221 217 += 280 
South Fork 48 46 36 36 9 44 132 101 116 


Continued ~-- 
29 
