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SITE NAME
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St. Paul Island, Pribilof Islands, Alaska, USA
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| Contact details
(phone/fax//e-mail//address): |
| + 585 256 0842/+ 585 256 0842(fax) // jokli@FRONTIERNET.NET // 410 Linden St, Rochester, NY 14620-2442, USA
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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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WEATHER
CONDITIONS
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Weather conditions: |
| Prolonged spell of warm weather in February brought hope of an early spring. Then a late spell of winter with subfreezing temperatures and much snowfall came in March. Upon my arrival in early May ground was still 100% snow covered and all lakes were frozen over. The Big Lake (the largest one on the island) had traces of ice until end of May. The snow and ice melting dates were the latest in about 20 years. May and June were sunny, with air temperatures only 0.4øC lower than average.
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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: |
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Breeding conditions:
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| Besides birding rarities, spring migration brought in a large influx of Wood Sandpipers and Common Snipes (15 were seen in one evening). Snipes were winnowing - a behaviour not reported in the last 6 years, if ever, and low numbers (mainly single birds) were seen until July 18, thus some breeding attempts might have occurred. Species that typically nest on the Island were all nesting and hatching, but I have no data on numbers and success. Of species that do not nest every year Common and Hoary redpolls (Carduelis flammea and C. hornemanni) nested (immature birds seen), American Pipits (Anthus rubescens) most probably nested (courtship seen in the spring, agitated behavior typical for birds with brood seen in summer), while McKay's Buntings (Plectrophenax hyperboreus) were seen only during migration.
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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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