NORTHERN SASKATCHEWAN, NORTHERN MANITOBA, AND ONTARIO 
Weather and Water Conditions 
Early warm periods in April and May produced an early 
northward movement of waterfowl and at first it was believed 
that an early season would develop. However, successive cold 
periods of rain and snow swept over the survey area all through 
May. 
Phenological development which was from 10 to 15 days 
later than a "normal" season and possibly may be as much as three 
weeks later than last year. 
Solid pack ice was found in northern Ontario north of 
Winisk Lake and snowstorms were more common than sunny days, In 
southern Ontario west of 86° longitude heavy rainstorms resulted 
in an abundance of water. Most of the lakes were filled to 
capacity and the rivers and streams were overflowing their banks. 
In the Saskatchewan River Delta in northern Manitoba, 
water levels were reported to be the lowest in 30 years. Runoff 
in the Saskatchewan River drainage was almost nonexistent. 
Although this situation reduced the total acreage of waterfowl 
nesting cover and tended to concentrate the birds, it might be 
that it will be compensated by the lack of nest destruction due 
to flooding of the Delta. 
In the remainder of northern Manitoba water levels 
appeared to be below normal although not to such a degree as to 
Significantly affect waterfowl nesting. The northern one-third 
of Manitoba was still in solid ice and snow on June 10. 
The forested areas of northern Saskatchewan also show 
evidence of partial drought conditions. Water levels in the 
Jakes and marshes were below normal and the runoff from the 
streams and rivers was significantly reduced. 
The northern one-fourth of Saskatchewan was frozen as 
of June 10 and as near as could be determined, it appeared that 
many of the northern migrants had been held back by the “ice 
line" for there were large flocks of mixed species and courting 
flights involving 4 to 8 birds were common. 
Breeding Population Indices 
Large flocks of waterfowl were observed throughout the 
survey area in northern Manitoba and Saskatchewan. It is 
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