Water losses have been rapid from that time 
on, particularly in those areas in the eastern 
and western Sandhills where water was only 
in moderate supply atthe start ofthe breeding 
season, 
Although there were not as many water 
areas recorded inthe surveys as were present 
in 1962, they were generally of a more perma- 
nent nature with better quality habitat. 
The basin area of south-central Nebraska 
was very short of water during the spring 
breeding pair survey. Only a few of the 
deeper basins held small amounts of water. 
Although there has been some easing of the 
situation it was felt that there was not enough 
potential in the area for 1963 production to 
warrent brood flight surveys. 
Weather conditions during spring and early 
summer consisted of fairly cool tempera- 
tures with moderate rainfall. No above- 
normal amounts of rainfall occurred as in 
1962. ; 
A severe freeze on April 20 and 21 may 
have chilled someeggs, The usual hailstorms 
occurred from time to time during the late 
spring and summer. Because of the local 
nature of these storms, itis doubtful that they 
caused many adult or waterfowl brood fatali- 
ties, 
Breeding Population Indexes 
The 1963 aerial breeding ground transects 
were flown over the Sandhills breeding area 
during the period May 14 through May 20, 
1963, The entire series of transects were 
surveyed, 
The calculated breeding duck population for 
the Sandhills was 114,910 birds ofall species, 
This figure represents a 66,8 percent in- 
crease over the calculated 1962 population 
figure. 
The calculated population index for stratum 
A was 94,061 ducks, and 12,963 birds for 
stratum B. The index was up 57.5 percent 
for stratum A, and 43.6 percent for stratum 
B, 
A total of 1,152 transect miles were flown 
in the Sandhills for a sample coverage of 288 
square miles, A total of 1,943 ducks of all 
species were counted. With the exception of 
scaup, all species were substantially above 
the 1962 count. 
Production Indexes 
Aerial brood transects were flown over the 
Sandhills breeding area during the period 
July 9-17, 1963. The same transects were 
flown for brood surveys as were flown forthe 
breeding grounds survey. 
A total of 108 broods was observed on the 
July aerial survey. Good counts were obtained 
on 90 broods with a total of 529 ducklings. 
The total number of broods sighted was up 
771.4 percent from 1962, and the number 
of ducklings was up 839.7 percent. The 
number of ducklings a brood from the aerial 
counts was 5.88, an increase of 0.63 from 
1962. 
The hatch appears to be only slightly 
irregular, indicating some renesting activity. 
Newly hatched broods are still appearing 
(July 22). Only 5.1 percent of the ducklings 
were in class I, Class II and III ducklings 
were 49,3 and 45.6 percent. 
Summaries of the survey are found intables 
F-25, F-26, and F-27 (pp. 150 and 151). 
Conclusions 
The 1963 waterfowl production in the 
Nebraska Sandhills will be considerably 
greater than that of 1962. Production should 
be at least three times that of 1962. Although 
water disappeared rapidly in many areas, 
most broods were sufficiently advanced soas 
not to be too much affected. 
WYOMING 
Data supplied by George Wrakestraw 
Wyoming Game and Fish Commission 
Weather and Habitat Conditions 
Range and water conditions at the start of 
1963 were at a very high level for most of 
the State. As spring advanced, parts of the 
State deteriorated to a level equal to that ex- 
perienced in 1961, Fortunately,-the area af- 
fected was limited to the southeasterncorner 
of Wyoming, which makes up but a small part 
of the total production area, All major water 
impoundments were filled to extremely high 
levels, insuring adequate water for down- 
stream uses, Runoff from the high mountain 
areas was good in most areas, 
May and June of this year were months of 
wet, cold weather which assured enough water 
areas to see broods to the wing. However, 
most of the precipitation occurred after the 
migration had passed through the State. 
35 
