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RESPONDENT
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Alexander Dmitriev
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SITE NAME
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Mongocheyakha River delta, Gydan Peninsula, Russia
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| Contact details
(phone/fax//e-mail//address): |
| 8-916-1261511/8-495-2152901(for Dmitriev) // zzu@inbox.ru // Orekhovy bulevar, 16-241, Moscow, 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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13.07
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16.07
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2
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WEATHER
CONDITIONS
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Weather conditions: |
| The study period from 13-17 July was characterized by relatively warm (air temperatures ranging from +1-12°C), dry and cloudy weather with weak north-western and north-north-western winds. No snow was present in the delta.
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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: |
high
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Breeding conditions:
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Arctic Foxes or signs of their activities were not recorded. Their absence probably favoured the successful nesting of geese and ducks in the area.
Birds of prey and owls were not observed. Distraction displays of an Arctic Skua indicated nesting of this species. Pomarine Skuas were common, but their breeding was not confirmed. Numerous Long-tailed Skuas were represented by birds feeding in bogs in groups of 20-30 on 15 and 16 July. Herring Gulls were common breeders on the islands in the delta, in the central part of which we found a colony of 4 pairs of Herring Gulls and a pair of Glaucous Gulls.
Black-throated and Red-throated divers were common, but breeding was confirmed only for the latter species. Bewick's Swans were recorded daily in groups of 4-8 birds. White-fronted Geese were numerous and bred at an average density of 24 pairs/km?. Most of geese nests (12 of 22) were found within a single lake-bog system of 0.26 km2, giving a local density of 46.7 nests/km2. Geese clutch size ranged from 1 to 7 eggs. The first chick hatched on 16 July. Brent Geese were common everywhere on the delta islands, however, only 2 nests were found (5 and 3 eggs). Among ducks, we recorded the Long-tailed Duck (breeding not confirmed), King Eider (common breeder), and Steller's Eider (numerous). Single-species flocks of eiders were common, while mixed flocks were less often observed.
Waders of 8 species were recorded in their typical habitats at high densities. Breeding status of the Pacific Golden Plover remained unclear; the other 7 species bred. Turnstones and Red-necked Phalaropes were rare; Grey Plover, Grey Phalarope, Little Stint, Dunlin and Ruff were common. Passerines were represented by 3 species, including rare Shorelarks and White Wagtails, and relatively abundant Snow Buntings.
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Rodent dynamics:
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| Regular records of lemmings indicated their high numbers in the study area, similarly to localities everywhere further upstream in the river.
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Rodent species recorded:
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| Latin | Abundance |
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| Lemmus sibiricus | abundant |
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Summary
of fauna studies: |
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