Winter Feeding at Faville Grove, 1935-36

Abstract

wildlife. Food of all sorts was plentiful and cover was lush. Nesting was unusually successful and game birds were abundant, but winter brought the deepest snow and most intense cold of the century. As a result the plentiful food supply was buried under several feet of snow, and the birds died. In the summer of 1936 a record drought severely curtailed both food and cover. The diminished crop of ragweed and acorns suffered a further loss of 10 per cent from insect attack. Nesting results were poor due to the drought. Winter brought no snow and little severe cold, but the fields were sealed by a blanket of ice on January 6 and remained so, without a break, for two months. Few birds died on fed areas like Faville Grove; but on some unfed areas quail and Hungarian partridges perished in large numbers. In the state as a whole, the survival in 1937 was much better than during the preceding winter. No fed birds f oze in 1937 whereas many froze in 1936 (3). Artificial feeding was better organized in 1937. Seeds on stalks stood above the ice of 1937, but were deeply covered by snow in 1936. The contrast between the two winters at Faville Grove is shown in the