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RESPONDENT
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Robert Gill, Jr.
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SITE NAME
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Noatak National Park & Preserve, USA
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| Contact
details (phone/fax//e-mail//address): |
| 907-786-3514/907-786-3636(fax) // robert_gill@usgs.gov // U. S. Geological Survey, Alaska Science Center, 1011 East Tudor Road, Anchorage, AK, 99503, USA |
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PROJECT DETAILS
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Project name:
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Montane-nesting bird inventory |
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Start of survey:
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End
of survey:
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Team
size:
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6.06 |
8.06 |
2 |
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WEATHER CONDITIONS
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Weather conditions: |
| Conditions were well advanced at this site on 6-8 June 2002. The ground was nearly snow-free and creeks were running and had very little shore ice. Small ponds were mostly ice-free while large ponds and lakes were still mostly ice-covered. Eriophorum vaginatum and Vaccinium uligonosum were in full bloom. No extreme weather was recorded during the period save for snow that fell on 31 May and blanket mostly higher (>500 m) elevations throughout the area. A prolonged warn spell in mid-May over most of the Brooks Range resulted in rapid melt-off of snow and ice leaving mostly snow-free habitat upon arrival of birds. |
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| Date of 50%
snow-cover: |
15.05 |
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| Date of ice-break
on rivers: |
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| Date of final loss
of snow: |
25.05 |
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BIOTIC CONDITIONS
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| Rodents abundance evaluation: |
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Breeding conditions:
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| Pacific Loons, Long-tailed Ducks, and Greater Scaup were feeding in pairs indicating that females had not yet started incubating. Long-tailed Skuas and Whimbrels mobbed predators in apparent attempts to direct them away from nests. A pair of Northern Harriers engaged in courtship flights; likewise, American Golden-Plovers, Semipalmated Plovers, and Wilson's Snipe performed flight displays. Most detections of passerines were of males singing from prominent perches, indicating that territory set up and egg-laying were underway; an exception was the American Robin (an early migrant), most individuals of this species were alarm-calling, suggesting that egg-laying was complete. At an adjacent site during the same time period, we found many Lapland Longspurs incubating complete clutches of eggs. Willow Ptarmigan were present but quite inconspicuous suggesting that their breeding display period was over and that females were incubating. |
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Rodent dynamics:
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Rodent species recorded:
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Summary
of fauna studies: |
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