08-16-2004, 06:23 PM
North Dakota's 2004 fall duck flight is expected to be down about 40 percent from last year and similar to the fall flights of 1995 and 1996, the Game and Fish Department says.
According to Mike Johnson, waterfowl biologist for Game and Fish in Bismarck, the 2004 brood index from the department's annual mid-July survey was down 45 percent from last year's record total, but still 77 percent above the 1955 to 2003 average. Average brood size was 6.4 ducklings, down 0.4 from last year. The long-term average is 7.2 ducklings per brood. The water index observed during the survey was unchanged from 2003, and 45 percent above the 1955 to 2003 average.
Average age of broods was younger than the long-term average, Johnson said. Brood survey results, Johnson expects, may be somewhat low because of marginal weather conditions and dense vegetative cover on many wetlands.
The index does not count every water body or duckling in the state. Instead, biologists sample representative transects across the state each year. Over time, survey results provide biologists with trend information that allows annual comparisons of waterfowl production in the state.
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According to Mike Johnson, waterfowl biologist for Game and Fish in Bismarck, the 2004 brood index from the department's annual mid-July survey was down 45 percent from last year's record total, but still 77 percent above the 1955 to 2003 average. Average brood size was 6.4 ducklings, down 0.4 from last year. The long-term average is 7.2 ducklings per brood. The water index observed during the survey was unchanged from 2003, and 45 percent above the 1955 to 2003 average.
Average age of broods was younger than the long-term average, Johnson said. Brood survey results, Johnson expects, may be somewhat low because of marginal weather conditions and dense vegetative cover on many wetlands.
The index does not count every water body or duckling in the state. Instead, biologists sample representative transects across the state each year. Over time, survey results provide biologists with trend information that allows annual comparisons of waterfowl production in the state.
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