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RESPONDENT
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Alexander Artyukhov
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SITE NAME
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Beringovsky Settlement, Chukotsky 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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Start of survey:
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End
of survey: |
Team
size: |
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13.06
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8.08
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WEATHER
CONDITIONS
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| Season phenology: |
average
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Weather conditions: |
By spring snow accumulation was close to average or slightly below at a coastline fragment of 100 km long, but strong winds in winter caused uneven distribution of snow. Dates of snowmelt and flood were several days earlier than long-term average; local people were able to use snowmobiles until early June. Strong pollution of snow with coaldust from boiler-houses in settlements Beringovsky and Nagorny resulted in 5-7 days earlier snow melt at an area of up to several kilometers from the settlements' vicinity compared with the rest of the territory.
By the start of field surveys on 13 June snow covered area did not exceed 20-40% in the mountains and in hills to the south of the Alkatvaam River mouth, and did not exceed 5-10% on the plain surface, where it remained in depressions, and in accumulations behind hillocks and buildings in settlements. Snow depth still was sometimes of several 10s of meters in late June in deep valleys of rivers and streams. Some of these snow deposits still existed in mid July, and at foothills of coastal rocks even in early August. Ice was present by mid June only on mountain lakes and sea lagoons, where it melted by the end of month. Drifting sea ice floats covered 5-40% of the Ugolnaya Bay in June, and melted by 7-8 July. Ice completely disappeared on 10 July to the south of Otvesny Cape. Spring flood on rivers was low and brief, and there were no floods in summer.
Spring and summer were generally slightly warmer than usual, without frosts, serious falls of air temperatures, snowfalls or heavy rains. The amount of precipitation was considerably below average and tundra became dry almost everywhere by the end of July. Minimum air temperatures ranged in the period 13-30 June from +2-8øC and maximum temperatures from +8-20øC, while ranges in the period 1 July-8 August were +3-13øC and +8-26øC, respectively.
Typical maritime climate in summer resulted in frequent strong winds of prevailing southern and south-eastern direction, fogs, low overcast and drizzle. Weather was highly variable even during one day, and could differ considerably at the same time at a distance of 5-20 km along the sea coast. Adverse weather, prevailing to the south of Otvesny Cape, improved only rarely for periods of 10-15 hours.
Strong gusty south-eastern wind reached 30-35 m/s on 24 June and caused formation of numerous local waterspouts over the sea, some of which spread also onto the land surface to the north of the Ugolnaya Bay. Numerous flocks of colonial seabirds, primarily murres and Kittiwakes, were sucked in by the spouts. Although we did not observe perished birds, the latter were rolled over water surface and dispersed in air. In colonies on rocks to the north of Barykov Cape and on adjacent uplands nests of almost all birds, with an exception of nests of Horned and Tufted puffins in burrows, should have been destroyed in the belt of the waterspout passage 20-30 m wide. Almost constant strong wind established from 24-29 June and raised waves up to 4-4.5 m on the sea, which was very unusual for this period of year, in contrast to late summer and autumn. Entry in almost all streams, small rivers and channels from lagoons was blocked for spawning salmons with pebble ridges, and fish had to stay en masse in the nearby sea.
Most phenological events occurred slightly earlier than usual. Mosquitoes appeared in high numbers from 29 June. Ripening of berries was average in timing, while the crop of bog bilberry, crowberry, Arctic raspberry and particularly cloudberry was rather small. The crop of mushrooms was lower than usual almost everywhere.
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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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Hares were not recorded. Numbers of Brown Bears were high on the coast, particularly in the vicinity of seabird colonies and river mouths. Either bears or their fresh tracks were recorded almost daily, and primarily were represented by medium-sized males. A single female bear with cubs was observed. Tracks of a wolf were seen once. Red Foxes were common everywhere, and we observed breeding female near the Otvesny Cape, but many foxes did not breed. Arctic Foxes, Wolverines and Ermines were not recorded.
Among large birds of prey a single adult White-tailed Sea Eagle was recorded in the vicinity of a colony of Horned Puffins. Peregrine Falcons were rare and their breeding was not confirmed, although a pair was observed 3 times near the Razboinik Cape during the second half of July. Rough-legged Buzzards were rare, and only 3 apparently breeding pairs were recorded during the whole season. Owls were not seen.
Numbers of Ravens were unusually high, and they were encountered everywhere, particularly, in the vicinity of seabirds colonies, where they successfully bred, as well as in the settlements. Raven broods consisted of 4-5 fledglings in mid July. Although Slaty-backed Gulls were much more numerous than Ravens, the latter were the most active avian predators, destroying clutches and chicks of all birds, primarily murres and Kittiwakes at the colonies. Glaucous Gulls were by a factor of 10 less numerous than Slaty-backed Gulls, while Herring Gulls were rare. These species of large gulls successfully bred in the colonies, and in at least 60-70% of pairs chicks survived by early August. In spring and autumn large gulls fed on eggs and chicks of birds in colonies, in June they concentrated at the numerous dumps in settlements Beringovsky and Nagorny, and in late June - early July these birds fed on spawning Far-eastern Capelin in the Ugolnaya Bay, accompanied by tens of thousand Kittiwakes. Only three records of non-breeding Pomarine Skuas (20 birds in total) were made in July. Arctic Skuas did not breed, but they were often seen (102 birds in total) from 6 July to 8 August. Long-tailed Skuas occurred in small numbers, but were recorded almost daily in June and until approximately 20 July.
Red-throated, Black-throated and Pacific divers were common on the sea and on lagoons, from where they transported food to breeding lakes.
White-fronted Geese nested in the vicinity of Zabytaya Lagoon, and most pairs produced chicks (up to 5 in a brood). Common Eiders were numerous breeders in the study area, but their reproductive success was very low, and rare broods contained maximum 4 chicks. Pintails, Long-tailed Ducks and Greater Scaups occurred in small numbers, and their breeding success was low. King and Steller's eiders were common on the sea near shore, but did not breed. Approximately a half of Sandhill Crane pairs produced chicks. Apart of Ravens and large gulls a narrow seaside belt was inhabited by Horned and Tufted puffins and Pigeon Guillemots, successfully breeding in burrows and cavities. Survival of clutches and chicks in the most abundant (100,000s) seabirds, Kittiwakes, Thick-billed and Common murres, was very low, not exceeding 5-10% by late July - early August. Chicks were present in 10-30% of pairs of Pelagic Cormorants in late July.
At least 70-80% of pairs of Ringed Plovers, breeding on seaside gravel flats in considerable numbers, lost their clutches, and survival of brood was, probably, also low. Breeding success of this and other wader species (Dunlin, Temminck's Stint, Red-necked Phalarope, Mongolian Plover) was somewhat higher farther from the sea, but the numbers were low there. A single brood of Wandering Tattler was observed.
All species of small passerines occurred in small numbers across most of the study area. Breeding was fairly successful in Red-throated and Buff-bellied pipits, White and Yellow wagtails, Dusky Thrush Turdus eunomus,Wheatear, Bluethroat, Dusky and Arctic warblers, House Martin and Snow Bunting, while Common and Arctic redpolls were common wandering birds, but rare breeders.
Remains of numerous colonial seabirds (Kittiwakes, murres) were regularly encountered, but mass perishing did not occur in these species. Apparently sick murres were recorded on few occasions, while previous observations of perishing of seabirds in high numbers by local people were not unusual. The weather was generally favourable for reproduction in 2006, but breeding success turned low in most species of birds.
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Rodent dynamics:
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| Numbers of all species of small rodents were low or very low, even at patches of recent snowmelt, and did not increase by autumn, based on signs of their activities. Inhabited burrows and latrines were very rarely encountered, and we observed a single vole and no lemmings during the whole season. Following very high numbers in 2005 Arctic Ground Squirrels were locally common, but rare in many sites, and a considerable portion of animals did not breed.
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Rodent species recorded:
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Summary
of fauna studies: |
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