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RESPONDENT
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Pavel Tomkovich
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SITE NAME
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Mallen Lagoon, Koryak Highlands, Russia
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| Contact details
(phone/fax//e-mail//address): |
| (495)6294474/(495)629-48-25(fax, for P. Tomkovich) // pst@zmmu.msu.ru // Zoological Museum, Bolshaya Nikitskaya St., 6, Moscow, 125009, 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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20.07
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27.07
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5
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WEATHER
CONDITIONS
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Weather conditions: |
| Weather was warm in the period of observations from 20-27 July, with alternating strong winds and calm weather, rains, fogs from sea and periods of clear sky. Tundra was dry, and some ephemeral water bodies and bogs dried out.
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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 and Brown Bears were the only mammalian predators, but occurred in high numbers. Fox litter was found near the camp, but adult animals and another litter were also observed far from the camp. Brown Bears were observed almost daily at an average rate of 2.1 per day, with a maximum 5 animals. Owls and Rough-legged Buzzards were not seen, while Peregrine Falcon and White-tailed Sea Eagles were seen once each. Long-tailed Skuas were solitary, while Arctic Skuas and Raven were recorded regularly in small numbers, some pairs with broods. Slaty-backed Gulls predominated among common large gulls, and up to 200 birds of this species were observed scattered on mud flats and coastal meadows at low tide.
Aggregations of moulting waterfowl on the lagoon and surrounding lowland included approximately 1000 of Greater Scoups, hundreds of European Wigeons, Harlequin Ducks, Common Eiders and Bean Geese. About 900 of feeding Dunlins and Red-necked Stints were counted on tidal falts on 26 July, and more than 15 thousand Kittiwakes were feeding there at low water.
Abundance of breeding birds was very low, and common birds with broods were represnted only by American Pipits at foothills and shrub birds in willow stans along several springs. Willow Grouse were also seen in riparian willow thickets, including 2 broods of 5 and 8 chicks. Chicks or adults birds alarming near broods were recorded in red-throated, Black-throated and Pacific divers, Red-necked Grebe, Emperor and White-fronted geese, Teal, Long-tailed Duck, Sandhill Crane, Pacific Golden Plover, Ringed Plover, Wood Sandpiper, Red-necked Phalarope, red-necked Stint, Temminck's Stint, Dunlin and Spoon-billed Sandpiper (2-3 broods of the latter species). Almost complete absence of duck broods was unexpected.
While breeding success was difficult to judge about, it was likely different among different groups of birds. Among seabirds at the colony on the Rubikon Cape Pelagic Cormorants had broods, while most nests of murres and Kittiwakes were empty. Several active nests of Slaty-backed Gulls and Common Eiders on Ptichy Island contained eggs on 21 July, which clearly indicated loss of all first clutches, presumably due to depredation by bears. Nests of Herring Gull pairs scattered across lakes were also empty. However, observations of alarming Common Gulls, broods of waterfowl, waterbirds, landbirds and shrub birds indicated their successful reproduction. Low overall numbers of breeding birds were probably characteristic of the area.
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Rodent dynamics:
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| Rodent numbers were low, as we recorded a single vole (in the colony of Slaty-backed Gulls and Common Eiders on Ptichy Island of the lagoon). Under-snow nests of rodents were solitary, Arctic Ground Squirrles, Hares and Northern Pikas (in the mountains) were rare.
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Rodent species recorded:
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Summary
of fauna studies: |
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