four days of fog, rain and low clouds ham- 
pered flying operations. Wheeler Airline 
pilots, delivering fuel to sites on the mid- 
Canada line during late July and early 
August, stated that flying weather at Knob 
Lake was the worst they had encountered since 
1957. During one period of two weeks it was 
possible to average only one day of flying 
out of four. 
The low water levels noted above are not 
considered a serious habitat factor at this 
time. It seems certain that many nests and 
young birds were destroyed by the larger 
forest fires, In such areas where even a 
moderately intense fire usually removes 
topsoil and humus and exposes vast expanses 
of bare rock, the long-term effect on water- 
fowl may be greater than the immediate 
effect. 
Breeding Population Index 
Breeding population indexes are shown in 
tables E-40, E-41, and E-42 (pp. 132-134). 
It should be noted that in table E-40 the 1962 
and 1963 data are based ona single expan- 
sion factor for the entire survey area and, 
therefore, are not comparable with the 1955 
and 1956 figures which have been computed 
separately for each stratum. In all the tables 
the 1963*aata are of questionable value. They 
illustrate the result of making a survey at 
the wrong time. The 1962 survey was started 
nearly three weeks too late because ofa delay 
in getting the aircraft ready for this type of 
work. 
However, while the data are of questionable 
value, (except to illustrate the importance of 
timing inthese surveys) the trip was definitely 
worthwhile in that it provided valuable train- 
ing foranewcrew, The problems of operating 
with few navigational aids, widely scattered 
gas. points, inaccurate charts and, usually, 
adverse weather conditions have all to be 
dealt with as a matter of course, Crew 
efficiency improved as experience demon- 
strated that these difficulties could be over- 
come. 
In tables E-40 and E-42 the data were com- 
puted on the same basis for all years, While 
some of the variations in species numbers 
1955 
Duck brood index ..... 28,900 
Average brood size.... 4.62 
51 
are because of differences in sampling inten- 
sity in the various strata, most of them may 
be regarded as actual changes in species 
composition of the total population. Itwillbe 
noted that except for 1963 there is reasonably 
close agreement intotals for dabblers, divers 
and geese, Considerable differences among 
years are apparent for scaup, goldeneyes, and 
ring-necked ducks. Data for the black duck 
and Canada goose agree rather closely, Since 
all crews involved were experienced inaerial 
observation of waterfowl the possibility of 
misidentification is probably negligible. 
It seems unlikely that the three species of 
divers would have had such wide variations in 
actual numbers, This causes suspicion that 
the proper time for getting a reliable esti- 
mate of black duck and Canada goose popula- 
tions may not be the right time for scaup, 
goldeneyes and ring-necked ducks, 
Lone Drake Index 
The 1962 and 1963 data were computed 
so as to be comparable with similar data 
obtained from a 1956 progress report con- 
cerning the lone drake observances in 1955 
and 1956, These data are presented in table 
E-43 (p. 134). 
These figures indicate that, over the entire 
survey area, considerable more nesting was 
in progress at the time of the survey in 1962 
and 1963 than in 1955 and 1956, This is 
especially true in the open boreal and forest 
tundra strata where, in all years that the 
survey has been done at the proper time, the 
highest numbers of waterfowl have been found, 
Waterfowl Production Indexes 
There are no comparable data available 
for brood indexes, Since the data for 1955 
and 1956 were based on three strata instead 
of the five in 1962 and 1963, they were not 
included in the tabulations, Comparison of 
the 1955-56 data with 1962-63 indicates that 
all strata should be surveyed to arrive atthe 
best estimate for production and average 
brood size. For information purposes these 
figures follow: 
1956 1962 1963 
26,900 88,000 150,000 
4,49 4,96 5.24 
