Wsdaoday, December 31, nw

This Fall, N.J. Was For Birds

TRENTON - New Jersey's fall waterfowl inventory . showed high numbers of waterfowl

in the state.

The state Division of Fish, Game and Wildlife said today that a comparison with similar surveys over the past seven years revealed that the totals for Canada geese, snow geese, black ducks, mallards, scaup, buffleheads, seas ducks, and ruddy ducks were at high population levels. BRANT NUMBERS remained the same as last year. Population trends of ' the green-winged teal continued downward. The mid-November waterfowl inventory is made in cooperation with * the Atlantic Flyway States, the Canadian Wildlife Service, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. More than 400.000 watefowl were tallied during four flights covering the major wetland and water areas in the state. Important populations amounted to 70,000 snow geese, 30,000 Canada geese, 44.000 brant, 95,000 scaup, 74.000 black ducks, 24,000 mallards, 22,000 sea ducks, 17.000 ruddy ducks, 12,000 green-winged teal, and 12.000 biiffleheads. THE DIVISION points out that waterfowl use of croplands and lawns often reflects natural habitat conditions. This year was no exception. Sea lettuce, the favorite food of brant, is again abundant. Accordingly, most brant were utilizing the coastal zones. Only 300 brant were observed feeding on golf course*- Last November, with no sea lettuce, over 15.000 brant were or. crops, school yards, golf courses, and other lawn grass

areas.

Expansive marsh eatouts by snow geese have also affected their natural food supplies. With diminishing saltmarsh cordgrass, snow geese have increased their use of croplands. Over 2,000 snow geese were observed feeding on winter wheat as compared to 10 geese for November, 1979. As the snow geese move inland on crops, censusing becomes more difficult. Some snow

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MOST OF the Canada geese counted were on crops. Some flocks are causing extensive damage to crops in northern and central New Jersey. Scaup and canvasback were most abundant in the Navesink, Shrewsbury, Manasquan, Metedeconk and Toms River and Raritan , Little Egg Harbor, and upper Baroegat bays. BLACK DUCK, mallard, bufflehead, teal and merganser populations were high in the coastal bays and salt marshes of Ocean, Atlantic, Cape May,, Cumberland, and Salem

The greater snow geese concentrated on the Brigantine National Wildlife Refuge, Reeds Bay, Dennis ' Creek, Maurice River, Egg Island, and Back Creek. Thousands of scoters (sea ducks) were wintering in the Atlantic Ocean near

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