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SITE NAME
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Coats Island, Nunavut, Canada
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| Contact details
(phone/fax//e-mail//address): |
| (613)990-2384/(613)998-0458(fax) // paulallen.smith@ec.gc.ca // National Wildlife Research Centre, Carleton University, Ottawa, ON, K1A 0H3, Canada
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PROJECT DETAILS |
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Project name:
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Shorebirds of Coats Island
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Start of survey:
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End
of survey: |
Team
size: |
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1.06
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23.07
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3
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WEATHER
CONDITIONS
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Weather conditions: |
| Snow cover reduced to 50% on 23 June and completely melted on 26 June. No heavy snowfall occurred, but one light snow fall (<3 cm) was reccorded from 9-15 June and 4 from 15-30 June. Heavy spring snow cover was recorded across the Eastern Arctic in 2004. The heavy snow gave way to a relatively warm and dry summer, although my experience with specific weather patterns at this site is limited.
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| Date of 50%
snow-cover: |
23.06
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| Date of ice-break on
rivers: |
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| Date of final loss of
snow: |
26.06
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BIOTIC
CONDITIONS
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| Rodents abundance evaluation: |
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Breeding conditions:
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This was our first year at this site, so we have no reference from prior years with which to compare our results. However, it appeared that breeding at Coats Island was adversely affected by the heavy spring snow cover. Few geese bred there in 2004, though many empty nest cups suggested to us that this site was usually used extensively for Snow Goose breeding.
This site has a high density of breeding Semipalmated Sandpipers by Eastern Arctic standards. Shorebird nest failure in 2004 was high, but not catastrophic. Mayfield estimate of hatch success in shorebirds was 0.54.
Despite absence of lemmings there were numerous Arctic Foxes in the area, and at least two active dens within the study plot. At one of these, we observed 8 pups out of the den on 29 June.
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Rodent dynamics:
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| Coats Island has no lemmings or voles of any kind; this observation has been confirmed by historical information, and long term (25 years) studies on other parts of the island.
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Rodent species recorded:
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Summary
of fauna studies: |
| We monitored the nests of shorebirds for success, and to a lesser extent, followed the nests of other birds such as gulls, jaegers and geese. This was the first year of an ongoing study at Coats Island to document the breeding ecology of the shorebirds. This work is the basis of a PhD thesis (Paul Smith). More information is available upon request.
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