Bear River Narrative Reports January-December 1959 Brafgh of Ijildlife Refuges
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
BEAR RIVER NARRATIVE REPORTS JANUARY-DECEMBER 1959 BRAFGH OF IJILDLIFE REFUGES ^^±^^19^°^^ Rou^r^ Slip Mr« Salyer Mro Ackerknecht Mro Crawford Administrative Services Miss Baum Operations Kro Femanich Mr :; R^im -y^prZL Public Use MTo D^ont Mr a Kubichek Mr* Stollberg Resource Management ^tfrj Harley - 'muo Btctefe ^.Idlife Management Mrt> Banko _ Mr0 Stiles Mro Goldman Refuge BEAR RIVER Period Sept..-pec. 1959 NARRATIVE REPORT BEAR RIVER MIGRATORY BIRD REFUGE For the Period September 1, 1959 to December 31, 1959 REFUGE PERSONNEL Vanes T* Wilson Refuge Manager Fred L, Bolwahnn. .Ass!t Refuge Manager Lao T, Young • Refuge Foreman Wilford N. Wandal Mechanic Roland E. Jorgensen Maintenanceman Leonda A* Hansen Maintenanceman Ronald G. Obraj Refuge Clerk RESEARCH PERSONNEL Dr. Wayne I. Jensen Bacteriologist Dr. Malcolm McDonald Biologist Jack P. Allan Biologist G. Hortin Jensen Flyway Biologist Allan G. Smith..Wildlife Research B Lea Rue Allan Clerk TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE I. GENERAL A. Weather Conditions 1 B, Habitat Conditions 2 II. WILDLIFE A. Migratory Birds 3 B* Upland Game Birds 4 D. Fur Animals 4 E. Hawks, Eagles, Owls, Crows, etc 5 F. Other Birds 5 G. Fish 5 I. Disease • 5 III. REFUGE DEVELOPMENT AND MAINTENANCE A. Physical Development .6 D. Control of Vegetation ...7 F. Fires.. 8 IV. RESOURCE MANAGEMENT E. Commercial Fishing 9 F. Other Uses* 9 V. FIELD INVESTIGATION OR APPLIED RESEARCH A. Progress Report • .9 VI. PUBLIC RELATIONS Recreational Uses., 10 B. Refuge Visitors 10 C. Refuge Participation XI D. Hunting 12 E. Violations 12 VII« OTHER ITEMS A* Items of Interest,..,...... 13 C. Signature , .13 BEAR RIVER MIGRATORY BIRD REFUGE NARRATIVE REPORT SEPTEMBER, OCTOBER, NOVEMBER, DECEMBER, 1959. BEAR RIVER MIGRATORY BIRD REFUGE NARRATIVE REPORT SEPTEMBER, OCTOBER, NOVEMBER, DECEMBER, 1959 I. GENERAL A. Weather Conditions. Precipitation Max. Min. Snowfall This Month Normal Temp. Temp. September 0 1.87 1.09 ~93° 37° October 0 .05 1#43 75° 29° November 0 Trace 1.12 68° 170 December 3" 1.36 1.07 50° 120 TOTAL 3W 3.28 4.71 Ex. 9^ "120 The weather during the first half of September was hot and dry, during the last half the temperatures were below normal and the precipitation above normal. Rain fell on 14 days for a total of 1.87 inches. Evaporation from std pan was 6.27 inches, and the wind movement was 1,645 miles. * The weather during October was near normal, the maximum temperature being 75 degrees, and the minimum 29 degrees near the end of the month. Precipitation was only .05 of an inch, as compared with a long time average of 1.43 inches. Evaporation from std pan was 3.50 inches, which is somewhat below normal, and the wind movement was 1,684 miles. In general the weather was not to the liking of the duck hunting fraternity. Weather during the month of November continued about normal except for the lack of precipitation. The only rain that fell during the month was a trace which occurred on November 3. Normal precipitation for this month is 1.12 inches. Weather officials report the second driest Nov ember in Utah since records were started in 1928. Wind movement for the month totaled 1,539 miles. Evaporation readings in the std pan were discontinued on the 14th of the month because of ice. The month of December came to a wet close when 1.36 inches of precipitation fell during the last week. Most of this came in the form of rain but at the end of the month there was about two Inches of snow on the ground and more snow predicted. Even with the 1.36 Inches of moisture, which is slightly above normal for this month, conditions are still dry and much more precipitation is needed if water conditions are to be favorable next year. Total wind movement for the month was 1,095 miles. B. Habitat Conditions. 1. Water. During the first part of September the flow of water in Bear River was very low with only an estimat ed flow of 125 cfs. This was the period units 1 and 5 were about 75^ dry while the other three units were still near the desired level. Following a mid-September rain the river began to rise. On September 20th the Cutler Power Station released 1,100 cfs of water and by the 28th all of the impoundments were full, and water was released to the area outside of the main dikes. From that time until the units were drained there was sufficient water to hold the units at the prescribed levels. As cold weather set in the water in the units was gradually lowered until on December 16 all of the gates and boards in the control structures had been raised or removed and the units drained. At the end of the period the water remaining on the refuge is 99^ covered with ice. With all of the river control gates raised most of the water is being channelled through units 2 and 5. 2.. Food and Cover. Food conditions in Units 2, 3, and 4 ^were excellent as these units contained water over most of their areas during the summer. Both the emergent and the sutmergent vegetation made excellent growth producing a great deal of food and cover. Units 1 and 5 which were 75/^ dry by mid-summer did not produce as much submergent food for the migrating birds but the emergents did very well. Generally, cover conditions on all parts of the refuge were excellent with the abundant growth of tules and miscellaneous weeds. The herons, pelicans, gulls, terns, and other shore- birds found a plentiful supply of invertebrates and small fish for their diet. Even though a program to control carp is carried out every year we evidently do not decrease the food supply of these birds to a point where they must look elsewhere for food. II. WILDLIFE A. Migratory Birds. As is usual, the largest concentrations of birds occur during this period. The numbers of birds which pass through this area during the fall and winter months far exceed that which migrate through the valley (taring the spring when all species are considered in the aggregate. Of course, certain species are more abundant during the spring than in the fall. The largest concentration of waterfowl during the period occurred during the week of September 11, when about 490,560 ducks, 91,250 coots, 1,568 Canada geese, and 2 Whistling swans were present. A species breakdown of the ducks show that there were approximately 235,400 Pintails; 66,700 Green-winged teal; 61,950 American Wid geon; 42,870 Gadwall; 28,700 Cinnamon teal; 27,550 Mallards; 21,850 Shovelers; 3,000 Blue-winged teal; 2,530 Ruddy ducks; and 10 Redheads. The peak occurred about two weeks earlier than last year and was about below last years peak num bers. Accordingly, the use of the refuge by ducks decreased. This years days use was 25,992,043 days. The decrease in the duck population has been attributed mainly to the poor hatch in the breeding grounds during the summer. Hunter bag checks this year have shown a greater precent of the bag to be adult birds indicating a lack of juveniles in the population. The goose population reached its yearly high during the week of November 8 when 1,697 Canada geese; 23 Lesser ^Canada geese; and 3,580 Lesser Snow geese were seen. This totaled 5,300 geese. This is about 1,400 fewer geese than last year, but compares favorably with proceeding years. A sighting of some interest in these parts was that of a Blue goose which was seen on November 5th. It was with a small flock of Lesser Canada geese. The Blue goose remained on the refuge for only a very short time and was seen only twice in the same day. This bird is considered very rare in the Salt Lake Valley and generally out of its normal range. The Whistling swan population increased this year to a peak of about 18,750 individuals. This occurred during the last week of November, and juvenile birds were well represent ed indicating a very successful year for this species. Coots were once again quite abundant reaching a high of about 95,900 birds on September 24. This is an increase over 1958 but still down considerably from the 1957 high of 208,000 individuals. Will those people who have these extra birds please keep them and take the rest of ours. 4 At the end of the period the numbers of waterfowl had dwindled down to a mere few hundred ducks, geese, and swan. B. Upland Game Birds. Ring-necked pheasants are once again very evident as they always are at this time of the year. It is not uncommon to see flocks of from 25 to 30 birds at any time that you drive around the refuge. It is estimated that there are about 600 birds of this species on the refuge at present. The population seems to hold almost steady with very little fluctuation in numbers and sex ratio. The seasonal increase moves into the surrounding fields where hunting pressure keeps the population down. D. Fur Animals, Predators, Rodents, and other Mammals. On December 28 and 30 the annual muskrat house census was taken. The total number of houses seen this year number ed 1,339. This is an increase of 334 houses over last year. The increase this year indicates an approximate 2% increase in the number of muskrats. On the basis of this information we recommended that each trapping unit quota be increased from 700 to 800 rats and that the trap per take all of the skins.