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Itoratlw R^part R^tlag Slip Mr- S&lye^ ,A'MH11Lfl r^| Mr. Cmvfwd. Admiaist.ratlvi& Services Miss Bam Operaticfittfi I .'..•.I. tfctiw>' Mr. Femsaicli^ ^ Mr. Regan Pttfelic Pes Mr. Dutet Mr. Kublchek Mr. StclXfaerg Keiourcfe Dr. Msrley Mr, Hickok Wildlife Itoa^e xamt Mr, Banko Mr, Sxiles Mr, GoitMm Refiige KIR WIN Perlcni Jan. - Apr. 1961 KIRWIN NATIONAL WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT AREA NARRATIVE REPORT JANUARY, FEBRUARY, MARCH, APRIL 1961 PERSONNEL; Robert H. Shields , Refuge Manager I Neta L, Lenertz Refuge Clerk(l/1 - 1/20) Kenneth M# George Foreman III Howard L® Stephens • . « . • oMaintenanceman (Equipment) Gale G, Jones ••••••••• •Maintenanceman (General) Audie E, Lee ^Maintenanceman (General) Harry A, Deichen. Laborer (Temporary) Warren J. Stockman Laborer (Temporary) TABLE OF CONTENTS I, General Weather Conditions Habitat Conditions IT, Wildlife Migratory Birds Upland Game Birds Big Game Animals Fur Animals, Predators, Rodents, and Other Mammals Hawks, Eagles, Crows, and Magpies Other Birds Fishing Disease III* Refuge Maintenance and Development Physical Development Plantings Collections, Receipts, and Transfers IV, Resource Management Grazing Haying Other Uses V. Field Investigations or Applied Research Lacreek Refuge Canada Goose Project VI, Public Relations Recreational Use Visitors Refuge Participation Hunting Violations VII, Other Items Items of Interest Signature NR forms Photographs Klrwin National Wildlife Management Area Narrative Report January, February, March, April 1961 I. GENERAL A, Weather Conditions, Extremely mild conditions prevailed throughout the winter. Warm days and cold nights were the rule. This winter has been just the contrary to the severe winter of 1960, The following weather recordings were taken at the Kirwin office of the Bureau of Reclamation, Month Snowfall Snowfall Total 61 year Max, Temp, Min, Temp, 1960 1961 Precip. Average January 12. S" 1.0" ,04" .39" 61 -13 February 11.5" S.S" ,25" .68" 75 2 March 19.5" * 2,0" 2.16" .98" 75 19 April — ^ 7.0" 1.50" 2.32" 89 17 TOTAL 43,5" 13.5" 3.95" 4.37" EXT, 89 -13 * Snowfall not included in Bureau of Reclamation weather data and therefore estimated by refuge personnel, B, Habitat Conditions, 1, Water> An approximate 8" ice-layer was present on the lake during January and was busted by high winds on 1/18; became refrozen on 1/21; again became broken up on 2/8 to quickly re freeze; and completely disaopeared in latter February, Although below average precipitation was received during the period, adequate moisture was present. Contrary to oast winters, the land was usually unfrozen during the time of rainfall which resulted in an increased absorption of moisture. The following information was taken from the Kansas River Projects Operation Data from the Bureau of Reclamation, Date WS El. & Inflow (CFS) WS Area AF Storage Outflow (CFS) in acres 1/31/61 1725.44 5 4,466 81,260,00 0 2/28/61 1725.69 15 4,505 82,390.00 0 3/31/61 1726.11 20 4,573 84,300,00 0 4/31/61 1726,32 20 4,610 85,260.00 0 The lake level at the end of the period was approximately four feet lower than last year's level and about 1,5' below that of 1958 and 59. What a difference a foot makes. All refuge ponds remained empty throughout the period. 2. Food and Cover. Food and cover was abundant during the period. An early thaw and a lack of snowfall created feeding conditions sel dom witnessed by Kansas wintering waterfowl. Standing crops of corn and railo had to be mowed down to provide easy access for the birds. Last winter's heavy snows built up around the base of the grain stalks which allowed the ducks and geese to reach the standing grain heads. Thus, no mowing was necessary. This year the timing was perfect. The last flight of northern mig rants stripped the last morsel of grain from the fields. II. WILDLIFE Mieratory Birds. 1, Waterfowl. Our wintering flocks of geese and ducks are slowly increasing. Also, the number of spring migrants which use the refuge are steadily climbing. The accompanying table best depicts the waterfowl history of the area. Some leeway has been allowed in the above statement for the better production year in 1958, An early spring probably accounted for a two week early arrival date on 2/15 of major waterfowl numbers. Wintering Canada Geese topped the 2,300 mark, an increase of 400 over the previous year. Fewer migrant Canadas were noted over the 1960 figures; however. White-front migrants doubled most past records at nearly 5,000. Canada Goose nesting surveys disclosed 9 nests and probably 3-5 were overlooked. Three broods supporting 3,4, and 5 goslings were observed successfully hatched on 4/27-28, Numbers of wintering and migrant ducks were second only the spring of 59 and winter 58-59, Approximately 21,000 Mallards wintered on on the area. Peak spring flights included 19,000 Mallards and 13,300 Pintails. There were no Redheads and only one Canvasback seen during the period. Spring flights of Green-winged Teal aporoached only 1,065 individuals, a severe drop over past years. Several paired Mallards were seen during latter March and April, All refuge ponds were empty and offered little encouragement to nesting ducks. Peak Coot migrants numbered 4,700, a small decrease from 1960 figures. WINTERING AND SPRING MIGRANT NUMBERS AND ARRIVAL DATES OF WATERFOWL AND SANDHILL CRANES, 1955-61 ARRIVAL DATES AND NUMBERS OF SPRING 56 SPRING 57 SPRING 58 SPRING 59 SPRING 60 SPRING 61 WINTERING AND SPRING MIGRANTS or or or or or or WINTER WINTER WINTER WINTER WINTER WINTER 55-56 56-57 57-58 58-59 59-60 60-61 TOTAL WINTERING GEESE «... 200 1,500 1,400 2,400 2,800 (oredomlnately Canadas) PEAK GOOSE MIGRANTS 800 609 1,940 6,050 6,235 8,200 PEAK CANADA GOOSE MIGRANTS 300 300 1,500 3,100 4,500 3,630 PEAK WHITS-FRONT MIGRANTS 500 400 21 2,950 2,400 4,570 TOTAL WINTERING DUCKS 2,500 18,000 42,000 15,000 21,000 (predominately Mallards) PEAK DUCK MIGRANTS 10,000 7,800 26,000 105,000 31,000 44,000 PEAK MIGRANT MALLARDS 3,000 3,800 25,000 35,000 14,000 19,000 PEAK MIGRANT PINTAILS 4,000 4,500 1,300 58,000 6,500 13,300 PEAK COOT MIGRANTS 1,000 500 1,000 2,000 6,000 4,700 PEAK SANDHILL CRANE MIGRANTS 400 500 500 500 675 2,500 1st. MAJOR SPRING ARRIVAL DATE 2/22 2/13 3/25 2/21 3/7 2/15 (all waterfowl) PEAK SPRING ARRIVAL DATE 3/22 3/2 4/2 3/22 4/12 3/8 (all waterfowl) 4, 2, Other Waterblrds and Shorebirds, Sandhill Cranes ^ere seen as early as 2/27 and as late as 4/7, Approximately 2,500 Sandhills utilized the refuge on or around 3/7-14 and some estimated 3,500 passed us by, 3, Hourhing Doves, Three doves were seen as early as 3/17, Approx imately 500 were present by latter April, B, Upland Game Birds, Ring-necked Pheasants and Bobwhite quail had an easy life this past winter. Pleasing temperatures, little snow, ample cover, and adequate feed was their lot. Both species were fairly abundant in numbers, the pheasants exceeding the quail. No Prairie Chicken were seen during the period, C, Big Game Animals, A crippled yearling White-tailed doe was released on the refuge by state game personnel in early May, This cripple was seen in the company of another doe on several occasions near Gray^s Park, A dead deer was found by a cooperative farmer near Hungry Hollow early in the period. The cause of death was unknown, D, Fur Animals, Predators, Rodents, and Other Mammals, 1, Fur Animals, Beavers comprised the only important animal in this category. There were probably 8-10 colonies of these mammals using the refuge, Predators, The Striped Skunk was the most numerous predator. The accompanying table depicts the predators taken in the refuge trapping program which began for the first time during January, 1961. The area trapped covered only about 300 acres near goose nesting sites. Time will tell if our efforts have been justified, 3, Rodents and Other Mammals, Both Cottontails and Black-tailed Jacks showed a definite increase during the period, E, Hawks, Eagles, Crows, and Magpies, A pair of Bald Eagles attempted nesting south of the residence near the south lake shore in a dead Cottonwood, They were unsuccessful! as has been the circumstances for the past 3 years. A Goshawk frequented the shelter belt south of headquarters from 3/2-3/29, He was a welcomed addition to the refuge bird list, F, Other Birds, An influx of Red-headed Woodpeckers, Eastern and Western Kingbirds, Brown Thrashers, and Yellow-headed Blackbirds during latter April 5 PREDATORS REMOVED FROM 1/30.4/28/61 Striped Spotted Raccoon Opossum Badger Feral Horned Date Skunk Skunk Gat Owl 1/30 Im 1 2/1 2m 1 2/5 2m Im 2/9 Ira 2/10 Ira Im 2/11 2m 2/12 2m 2/13 Ira 2/15 2ra 2/16 Im Im 2/17 Im 2/20 Im 2/21 Im 2m, If 2/22 If 2/23 lm,2f 2/24 2m 2/27 Im 3/1 2m 2m 3/4 2m 3/5 3/11 Im 3/13 Im Im 3/16 If 1m 3/21 If 3/22 Im 3/27 If 4/1 Im 4/9 If 4/23 Im 4/28 Im Im TOTALS 29m,4f Ira 6m,3f lm,lf 4ra Ira 5 (It is interesting to note the large number of male skunks caught prior to the capture of a female and also the low take of females.