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RESPONDENT
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Vladimir Morozov
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SITE NAME
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Meinypylgyno settlement vicinity, Chukotka, Russia
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| Contact details
(phone/fax//e-mail//address): |
| (495)1553044 // piskulka@mtu-net.ru // Shebashevski Proezd, 7-16, Moscow, 125315, Russia
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PROJECT DETAILS |
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Start of survey:
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End
of survey: |
Team
size: |
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12.06
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15.08
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11
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WEATHER
CONDITIONS
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Weather conditions: |
| According to reports of local people unusually small amount of snow was accumulated during winter, and strong winds redistributed snow unevenly. Little snow remained by the end of winter on sea spits and plain seaside tundra. Snow melt, break-up on rivers and other phenological events occurred in spring earlier than usual. Flood was early, rapid and unusually low. Night-frosts did not occur after 14.06. Nyzhnee Vaamychgyn Lake cleared on 21-22.06 and Pekulneiskoye Lake on 28.06. Chironomidae flies emerged in mass on 21.06, while first mosquitos were observed on 20.06 and appeared in mass on 26.06. Greening occurred by 20.06 in alder, 25.06 in dwarf birch and 1.07 in shrub willows. Spring and summer were dry, relatively warm, with typical on sea coast low cloads and fogs. Visibility was low in the second half of June and early August due to smoke from fires in mountains and on the Anadyr lowland.
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| Date of ice-break on
rivers: |
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| Date of final loss of
snow: |
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BIOTIC
CONDITIONS
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| Rodents abundance evaluation: |
low
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Breeding conditions:
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Red Foxes did not breed closer than 10 km to the settlement due to high activity of people and dogs in the vicinity, and tracks of the latter were seen considerably more often compared to tracks of Red Foxes. Tracks of Brown Bears, including fersh ones, were regularly seen in the settlement vicinity, but animals were mostly encountered on the coastal spit separating Meinypylgino from sea. An Arctic Fox was observed by local people in the island colony of herring Gulls on the Nyzhnee Vaamychgyn Lake.
Birds of prey and owls did not nest in the settlement vicinity. Records of White-tailed Sea Eagles, Gyrfalcons, Golden Eagles, Rough-legged Buzzards, Peregrine Falcons and Short-eared Owls were very rare. Solitary pairs of Arctic Skuas bred, but wandering birds were more common. Numerous Herring Gulls occurred in colonies on lake islands and on lake shores as solitary pairs, while Glaucous Gulls were less common and primarily inhabited sea coast. Ravens, primarily immature non-breeding birds, were very common near the settlement.
Wader species nesting in dry shrub-lichen tundra on coastal spits and along lake shores were represented by common or numerous Lesser Sand Plovers, Ringed Plovers and Spoonbilled Sandpipers, while Dunlins, Temminck's Stints and Red-necked Phalaropes were very rare. Tundra of moraine hills to the north of the settlement was inhabited by common Dunlins, slightly less abundant Red-necked Phalaropes and Pacific Golden Plovers and rare Red-necked Stints. Common Snipe and Wandering Tattler were probable breeders.
Good weather and low numbers of predators allowed successful breeding by waders compared with waterfowl and gulls. Broods numbers were considerable in Spoonbilled Sandpiper, Lesser Sand Plovers and Ringed Plovers, and many chicks survived to fledging. Waders suffered from predation by Arctic Skuas, gulls, dogs and, probably, Arctic Ground Squirreles. Clutches of divers, White-fronted and Emperor geese, Common Eiders and other ducks, Sandhill Cranes and gulls were almost entirely destroyed during egging by humans, including replacement clutches of eiders and gulls.
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Rodent dynamics:
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| Rodents were not seen, except for Arctic Ground Squirrels which occurred in very high numbers, occupied most of their settlements on spits and at foothills and bred with high success.
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Rodent species recorded:
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| Latin | Abundance |
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| Citellus parryi | abundant |
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Summary
of fauna studies: |
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