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RESPONDENT
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Alexander Artyukhov
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SITE NAME
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Velikaya River lower and middle reaches, Chukchi Peninsula, Russia
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| Contact details
(phone/fax//e-mail//address): |
| 8(083)4124632 // // Sovetskaya St., 3-60, Kokino, Bryanskaya oblast, 243365, Russia
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PROJECT DETAILS |
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Project name:
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Arctic Expedition of the Russian Academy of Sciences
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Start of survey:
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End
of survey: |
Team
size: |
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25.05
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6.08
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2
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WEATHER
CONDITIONS
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Weather conditions: |
| Winter was warm, and large amount of snow was accumulated. Pronounced warming and following icing on 20 December 2000 resulted in mass death of Willow Grouse and Ptarmigans. Snow melt was delayed 5-9 days compared with average terms. Ice started to break on the Velikaya River 100 km from the mouth on 24 May and on eastern tributarie in the lower reaches after 4-5June. Flood level was insignificantly higher than average, but remained high until 15-20 June, which along with late appearance of snow-free patches and air-holes on water bodies was the main factor adversely affecting numbers of nesting birds and nest success. A single prolonged, but not heavy, rain continued from 29 June to 4 July with temperature in the range +5.0-+14.9øC. Summer was warm and dry, and from 5 July to the beginning of August very hot weather established with minimal temperatures in the range +7.3-+14.0øC and maximal in the range +13.5-+28.5øC. Many marshes and small water bodies dried out in July. Weather conditions in summer were rather favourable for breeding of most species of birds.
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| Date of 50%
snow-cover: |
4-5 June
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| Date of ice-break on
rivers: |
25-31 May
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| Date of final loss of
snow: |
10 June
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BIOTIC
CONDITIONS
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| Rodents abundance evaluation: |
low
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Breeding conditions:
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Ermines, Red Foxes, Wolves and Brown Bears were common in some floodplain localities or their vicinity, while elsewhere they were rare. Arctic Foxes were not seen. Red Foxes did not breed as 6 inspected dens were uninhabited, although tracks of fox visits were discovered. Numbers of territorial and wandering Long-tailed and Arctic skuas were average or high locally until mid June, but afterwards they were decreasing and reached low level in the end of June. Less than 10% of Long-tailed and Arctic skuas initiated breeding. Pomarine Skuas were not seen in the period of surveys from late May to early August. Herring and Common gulls and Arctic and Common terns were common as wandering birds, while only 10-30% of adults bred. Rough-legged Buzzards were seen only in spring. Golden Eagles, Peregrine Falcons, Merlins and Short-eared Owls were rare in vicinity of the Velikaya River and its main tributaries, but Northern Harriers were rather common. White-tailed Eagles were seen every 10-30 km along the Velikaya River. Ravens and Black-billed Magpies were not numerous but nested successfully.
We observed predation of clutches of Grouse and Herring Gulls by Brown Bears, while nests of ducks and waders suffered from Red Foxes. Substantial or major fraction of populations did not nest in Whooper Swans, White-fronted Geese, Sandhill Cranes and Willow Grouse. Among waterfowl reproduction was the most successful (close to average) in ducks. Wood Sandpipers, Ruffs, Red-necked Phalarope and Common Snipe had the highest numbers and better reproductive performance compared with other species of waders, namely, Pacific Golden Plovers, Whimbrels, Dunlins, Terek and Temminck's sandpipers, Bar-tailed Godwits and Long-billed Dowitchers. Among passerines Pechora Pipits and White Wagtails had very low numbers, while Yellow Wagtails were very abundant (200-300 nests/sq km). Common and Arctic redpols were numerous, but most of them did not nest. The rest of small passerines were substantially less common or even rare, and their breeding success was below average.
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Rodent dynamics:
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| Lemming numbers were extremely low, and in total only two Siberian Lemmings were seen on 1 June, although winter tracks were numerous. Ruddy Voles were rarely seen in isolated patches near huts, in depressions and along river banks. Small colonies of Ground Squirrles were found in several localities along river banks.
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Rodent species recorded:
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| Latin | Abundance |
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| Lemmus sibiricus | rare |
| Clethrionomys rutilus | rare |
| Citellus parryi | common |
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Summary
of fauna studies: |
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