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Veather conditions in the Nebraska Sandhills were 
generally favorable to the 1959 waterfowl breeding population. 
Relatively mild weather prevailed during the winter. Most lakes 
. were either clear or mostly clear of ice by the end of the 
second week of March. Cool weather during the breeding season 
may have retarded the phenology as much as a week from the 
locally accepted average and up to three weeks later than 1953. 
Weather during the mating and nesting period has been 
generally cool and dry. Some rain fell during the first ten 
days of May, in the eastern and central Sandhills. Rains 
occurred in the western Sandhills up to May 20. Frost occurred 
in the eastern Sandhills as late as May 14. 
Water conditions were only fair in the Nebraska 
Sandhills this spring. Less than average amounts of snow fell 
in this area as a whole the past winter. Spring rains did not 
commence until early May. Most lakes in the eastern Sandhills 
area, were low with the exception of those fed by flowing wells. 
Small potholes and sloughs were virtually non-existent until 
after the middle of the migration period. They were drying fast 
by June l. 
Breeding Population Indices 
The aerial surveys indicated that the 1959 breeding 
‘duck population in the Sandhills has decreased from that of the 
1958 season. According to the survey the population has fallen 
below the average breeding population for the four prior years. 
lack of sufficient water habitat in some areas (eastern) may be 
related to the decreased population. . 
