
CENTRAL FLYWAY 
SOUTHERN SpsS bs A Tee aN 
Weather and Water Conditions - 
Although there was a great deal of snow in southern Saskatchewan during 
the past winter the ground underneath was dry and spring run-off was low in 
many places. During early May there was considerable rain, but toward the 
middle of the month, high winds and low humidity dried up many areas. These 
conditions persisted until mid-June, when general rains again replenished the 
potholes. By then, however, considerable damage had already been done in 
some places, particularly in the southwestern and westcentral portions of the 
Province. ~ 3 | ie 
Our July, 1956 Pond Index is down to 15.3 per square mile. This is quite 
a reduction from the robust July 1955 Index of 41.1 per square mile, but it does 
not signify that Saskatchewan's nesting grounds, have gone dry. Our most pro- 
ductive. habitats still have a fine supply of surface water, one that will be fully 
adequate to mature the big hatch now a in these regions. 
Rainfall in the summer of 1955 was so ideal for waterfowl production that 
all the other waterfowl seasons in our records are apt to suffer by comparison. 
The present 1956 season started out with a fine supply of surface water, but this 
water was dissipated in many regions by poor run-off, and by the drying periods 
that prevailed between the speels of wet weather. To put it another way, 1956 
rainfall in Saskatchewan has been adequate in amount, but inopportune as to 
frequency, which is an altogether normal situation in the Canadian Prairies. 
These drying periods undoubtedly affected the 1956 Duck Crop in two ways. 
First, they put some of our intensively-farmed grassland habitats (already mar- 
ginal insofar as waterfowl are concerned) out of production altogether. Secondly, 
the drying period that set in during the first part of June came at a most unfort- 
unate time, for many hens that had lost first nests had to decide during that 
period whether they should make one more try at motherhood, or give up the 
idea in favor of a leisurely sojourn at the molting lakes. In 1955, these frustrated 
hens tried again, in 1956, they didn't. 
Breeding Population Indices - 
Following are the breeding population indices gathered during the May 
aerial survey. 
4" 
