UTAH 

Weather and Wuter Conditions 
Utah experienced one of her drier springs in 1959. Limited 
snow packs and lack of tne usual spring rains caused some early concern 
over the prospects for the 1959 waterfowl production. When aerial 
counts were lade, water was extremely limited; however, after the 
irrigation season began the picture brightened. Periodic fluctuations 
have dried some areas only to be reflooded with a surge of irrigation 
returns. At this writing water conditions over the State's marshes 
are generally lower than in the past few years, but are certainly not 
considered critical so far as production is concerned. 
Breeding Population Indices 
Water limitations during the aerial census caused unusual 
concentrations of waterfowl through some portions of the transects, 
while other portions were completely dry. Expanded aerial figures 
differed only slightly from 1958 with a decrease of 1.6 ducks/square 
mile from the 33.7 figure derived for that season. There were some 
minor shifts in populations from 1958, but nothing considered important 
(see Table 1). 
Dike~line ground counts conducted on four major State refuges 
compared very closely with 1958 derivations. Figures for both Ogden 
Bay Refuge and Clear Lake Refuge were very close to those of a year 
ago. Both Farmington Bay Refuge and the Public Shooting Grounds showed 
increases. Probable cause of the larger count on Farmington Bay is an 
earlier census than in 1958, thus breeding individuals were counted 
before the break-up and not after males had started concentrating. The 
increase on the Public Shooting Grounds is attributed to habitat 
development. 
Species wise, 1959 figures compared closely with past trends 
except that increases were noted in ruddy ducks on all areas. In rela- 
tion to total population figures, the number of ruddy ducks is still 
insignificant however. 
Apparently the decline in cinnamon teal has halted as all 
refuges showed an increase in this species over 1958. Blue-winged 
teal continued to increase slightly; however, this species is still | 
relatively insignificant in Utah's breeding population (see Table 2). 
Species composition derived from ground counts was tabulated 
in two sections. From Utah County north is included in the Northern - 
Section and from there south in the Southern Section. Reason for the 
break is a distinct variation in habitat and consequent difference in 
species composition. The only significant change from 1958 occurred 
in the Southern portion of the State where redheads increased by 
6 percent, aprarently at the expense of breeding mallards (see Table 4). 
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