from the 1962 count of 56,5 drakes a square 
mile. 
Nesting and Brood Progress 
Sex ratio counts of dabblers in deserter 
drake flocks suggested that most species, with 
the exception of shovelers, were experiencing 
a good production season, In late June approx- 
imately 50 percent of the mallards, pintail, and 
green- winged teal were still incubating or with 
broods, The appearance of only one shoveler 
brood during the first brood survey again sug- 
guests that this species’ first nesting attempts 
may have failed. 
The only diver which provided sufficient 
‘counts to evaluate for nesting progress was the 
scaup. Sex ratio counts of this species indi- 
cated a poor production year at Minto; how- 
ever, scaup are late nesters and a sub- 
stantial hatch might appear late in July. 
Brood Surveys. 
The first pintail brood was observed onthe 
Minto study area June 14, The following week 
many more pintail and mallard broods became 
evident, A ground count over previously es- 
tablished check plots revealed a density of 3.5 
broods a square mile, With approximately 
half th®-broods hatched at that time the final 
figure for 1963 should approach 7 broods a 
square mile, This will equal or slightly. 
exceed the 1962 figure of less than 7 broods 
a square mile, 
The most encouraging feature of the 1963 
brood counts was the brood size (table F-1, 
p. 135). This exceeded the mean brood size 
for all species over the past 3 years by nearly 
one duckling. A large brood size is one of 
our best indicators ofa good nesting and brood 
season, 
Forecast 
A better fall flight of dabblers than in 1962 
is definitely expected on the basis of sex ratio 
counts and brood surveys. Some local, but 
slight, reduction in divers may occur ifa late 
hatch fails to materialize, Overall, a much 
cheerier production picture for Alaska is in 
the offing this year. 
Black Brant Production 
Better than average weather conditions en- 
hanced the progress of the 1963 black brant 
nesting season until late June. On June 22a 
northwest storm completely inundated the 
black brant nesting habitat for at least one tide. 
A conservative estimate of the losses from 
this storm would be 80 percent of the annual 
production or 30,000 to 40,000 brant based 
on a fall population of 180,000 brant, Con- 
sequently a very poor fall flight of local 
brant is expected to depart Alaska. 
Progress of the Nesting Season 
Black brant investigations were conducted 
on the Yukon-kuskokwim Delta as a contin- 
uation of studies begun in 1961. All indica- 
tions from the start of incubation, which was 
1 week earlier than in 1962, pointedtoa good 
nesting season. The weather from the onset 
of egg laying and incubation was warm and 
mild, continuing until early June. On June 
20 a series of low pressure areas moved into 
the Bering Sea bringing rain and northwest 
winds of light gale force, Unfortunately, at 
this time the highest tides of the month were 
expected and the high tides of June 22 rose 
to an unpredicted height. This inclement 
weather continued for nearly 2 weeks with 
a second storm of about the same intensity 
starting a week later, As a consequence 
of these storms the entire nesting habitat of 
the black brant was inundated completely for 
at least one tide during the first storm and 
may have been covered at other times, 
Nesting Study Area Survey 
Prior to the June 22 high tides a complete 
check of the Kashunuk River study area was 
completed (table F-2, p. 135),. A slight de- 
crease in the number of nesting brant was 
revealed, but not enough to suggest a signifi- 
cant change inthe breeding population, Clutch 
sizes were the same as inprevious years and 
before the storm averaged 3,6 eggs per clutch, 
The state of incubation of most clutches indi- 
cated the peak of the hatch would have oc- 
curred between June 23 and 27, 
Evaluation of the Storm Damage 
Early in the morning of June 22 it became 
apparent that the steady northwest winds were 
causing extreme high tides onthe coastal flats. 
In order to observe the effects of these high 
tides two flights were made over the nesting 
habitat of the brant, The first flight was at 
15 
