|
|
|
|
SITE NAME
|
|
East Bay, Southampton Island, Nunavut, Canada
|
|
| 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
|
|
PROJECT DETAILS |
|
Project name:
|
|
Shorebirds of East Bay
|
|
|
Start of survey:
|
End
of survey: |
Team
size: |
|
12.06
|
28.07
|
3
|
|
WEATHER
CONDITIONS
|
|
|
|
Weather conditions: |
| Snow cover reduced to 50% on 15 June and completely melted on 4 July. Spring was late, the summer cold and rainy. A very large snowfall occurred in early June, and another less intensive one, that left a few feet of snow in places. Later light precipitation, cloudy and cold weather kept the snow around later than normal. This also meant the ground remained saturated for most of the season. Water levels were higher than normal, and vegetation was clearly behind schedule.
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Date of 50%
snow-cover: |
15.06
|
|
| Date of ice-break on
rivers: |
|
|
| Date of final loss of
snow: |
4.07
|
|
BIOTIC
CONDITIONS
|
| Rodents abundance evaluation: |
average
|
|
|
Breeding conditions:
|
Arctic Foxes were rare, and their breeding was not confirmed. Arctic Skuas were common and bred, Long-tailed Skuas were rare non-breeders, and Pomarine Skuas were not recorded. Among birds of prey the Peregrine Falcon was a rare non-breeder. Rough-legged Buzzards and owls were not recorded. Herring Gulls, Sabine's Gulls and Arctic Terns were abundant and nested successfully. Red-throated and Pacific divers were common and nested. Reindeer were numerous in the area.
Nest success was higher than usual, with approximately 50% success over all shorebird nests. We found 4 Sanderling nests (of which at least one was successful), a species not previously recorded nesting at East Bay.
|
|
|
Rodent dynamics:
|
| Although no lemmings were trapped, they were observed frequently in June, while in July many freshly dug burrows were recorded. We also had several lemmings in our camp, including a pair that nested in our kitchen tent. Collared Lemmings Dicrostonyx richardsoni occurred in higher than average numbers, while the abundance of Brown Lemmings was low.
|
|
Rodent species recorded:
|
| Latin | Abundance |
|---|
| Lemmus trimucronatus | rare |
| Dicrostonyx groenlandicus | common |
|
|
|
Summary
of fauna studies: |
| Detailed studies of all shorebird species were made. We studied terns, gulls and waterfowl less intensively. All parameters of basic breeding ecology were recorded, such as nest success, nesting densities, timing of peak lay and hatch, etc.
|
|