
By mid-August a flock of about 25,000 
moulting lesser scaup was observed on Gor- 
don Lake. Traps were set up and approxi- 
mately 3,000 ducks were caught and banded. 
Since the operation was largely atrial in 1963 
wherein new equipment and methods were 
tested, it is believed that future catches will 
be much larger. Inthe future such ‘*bush’’ 
banding operations will be expanded to other 
lakes in the timber country north of the 
prairies where large concentrations of ducks 
are observed, 
About 9,000 ducks were banded by seven 
crews operating preseason bait stations this 
year. This is far better than the total ob- 
tained last season but still falls short of the 
number desired. With improved techniques 
and a shift of trapping sites to areas of higher 
waterfowl numbers it is expected that in 1964 
the quotas set by the Branch of Wildlife Re- 
search, Bureau of Sport Fisheries and Wild- 
life, for this operation will be met. 
The drive-trapping crews operating in the 
prairie portions of Alberta, Saskatchewan, 
and Manitoba banded approximately 5,600 
ducks, about half of which were blue-winged 
teal, The drive crew assigned tothe Yellow- 
knife locality in Northwest Territories trap- 
ped and banded over 600 local and adult ducks. 
While this does not appear to bea large num- 
ber it represents many hours of extremely 
hard work. The trapping there is spread 
over many, small, timbered ponds intersper- 
sed in muskeg, accessible only by difficult 
portages of canoes, banding equipment, and 
personnel, 
The five crews using retrieving dogs banded 
approximately 1,700 ducks during July. In 
Manitoba, the crews were hampered by high 
water levels and heavy vegetation; while in 
Alberta and western Saskatchewan their suc- 
cess was limited by a shortage of mallard 
broods, One experienced bander stated that 
in the Coteau area south and west of Moose 
Jaw he was ableto band in one day in the mid- 
fifties, as many mallards as he caught this 
year (1963) all the month of July. 
It is anticipated that in the 1964 Canadian 
banding program increased emphasis will be 
placed upon preseason bait trapping of mal- 
lards and black ducks, the banding of water- 
fowl in the remote areas of northern Alberta 
and Saskatchewan, and in obtaining adequate 
samples of certain species by drive trapping 
in the prairies to provide information neces- 
sary for species management problems. If 
the Canadian Prairie waterfowl habitat con- 
tinues to improve throughout the winter and 
spring, the 1964 banding program will un- 
doubtedly produce a much larger banded 
sample than was obtained in 1963. 
SUMMER WATERFOWL BANDING 
IN THE 
DAKOTAS, NEBRASKA AND MINNESOTA 
Data supplied by F. H, Davis 
Bureau of Sport Fisheries and Wildlife 
In the stateside portion of the prairie 
breeding grounds, six crews totaling 24 men 
banded a total of 10,606 waterfowlduring the 
summer of 1963, This marks the renewal of 
a banding effort in the southern part of the 
prairies to band a portion of the ducks pro- 
duced in that area. Approximately 7,800 of 
the total obtained were blue-winged teal 
captured by the drive trapping technique. 
The distribution of the waterfowl catch by 
State was as follows: 
North Dakota 4,012 
South Dakota 4,103 
Minnesota 611 
Nebraska 1,601 
Plans call for the continuance of this state- 
side banding effort in 1964, Greater em- 
phasis in the future will be placed on obtain- 
ing larger samples of local mallards in 
certain areas of the Dakotas and in obtaining 
adequate samples for species management 
problems. 
