| Rodents abundance evaluation: |
low
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Breeding conditions:
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In June flocks up to 50-100 migrant Purple Sandpipers, Red Knots, and Grey Phalaropes stopped on the southern coast near Bugrino Village.
According to reports of locals from Bugrino, the arrival of first Barnacle and White-fronted geese was recorded on 21-23 May. Mass arrival took place after 27 May, and numbers of White-fronted geese continued to increase until 12 June.
Arctic Foxes were common and bred successfully. Five inhabited dens with up to 7-9 cubs were found at distances of 5 km from each other. All food items near the dens were represented by geese and the Willow Grouse. Red Foxes were seen several times, and two inhabited dens were found on the hilly upland.
Arctic Skuas were common and bred successfully. Glaucous and Herring gulls were rather common; their colonies were found on lowland lakes with islands and on river bluffs, associated with Peregrine Falcons. The biggest colony on the river bluff consisted of 15 pairs.
Peregrine Falcons bred successfully with chicks hatched on 5-10 July; mean brood size was 3.0 nestlings (n=8). Dense goose colonies were found in the vicinity of all Peregrine nests. This raptor was especially important umbrella for the Barnacle Geese and consequently Barnacles were nesting only on river bluffs and mostly close to the nests of raptors.
Eight nests of Rough-legged Buzzards were found at the upper Peschanka River; they contained 2.6 eggs on average. Hatching took place on 25-30 June. The main food of buzzards consisted of the Willow Grouse and geese of all species. Four of 8 buzzard nests were placed on the plain tundra with no nearby goose colonies.
Short-eared Owl was spotted only once during spring migration.
Nesting success of Barnacle Geese was high and reached 95% in colonies around Peregrine Falcon nests, but it was only 16% in one colony where a raptor was absent. Breeding White-fronted Geese reached densities of 17-67 nests/km2, and their nesting success was 82%. Bean Geese were breeding with density of 3 pairs/km2; their nesting success was 71%. Mean clutch size was 3.59 in White-fronted, 3.27 in Bean and 3.36 in Barnacle geese.
One nest and 5 broods (3.1 cygnets on average) of the Bewick's Swan were found in the central part of the island. The King Eider, Velvet Scoter, Long-tailed Duck, Scaup, Red-Breasted Merganser, Pintail and Teal were all recorded breeding, but they were not abundant.
The first flighless (due to moulting of flight feathers) non-breeding Barnacle, White-fronted and Bean geese were recorded on 4 July. The first adults resumed flight on 6 August. The first flying young were seen after 10 August.
Among breeding waders the Little Stint, Ringed Plover, and Temminck's Stint were abundant and widespread. Dunlins were more or less common only in spring, but almost completely disappeared after severe snowfall with frosts that occurred on 8-9 June. Little Stints were markedly more abundant everywhere than in 2006. Leks of Ruffs were uncommon in the central part of the island and only one nest was found. Red-necked Phalaropes were recorded breeding in several places. Grey Plovers were found along the banks of the Peschanka River, while Eurasian Golden Plovers were common everywhere on the uplands. In August birds of the latter species concentrated into flocks in the marshy tundra. The Turnstone was recorded only in two places, on uplands and on a steep slope of the western coast.
Common Snipes were breeding in the Peschanka River valley. Jack Snipes were heard and seen displaying in many places of the Peschanka valley, including the island centre. Wood Sandpipers were displaying in bushy sites of river valleys as well as on upland bogs with bushes.
In general, breeding success was extremely low in the Dunlin, but high in the Little Stint, Temminck's Stint, and Ringed Plover.
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