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RESPONDENT
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Alexander Kuzmich
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SITE NAME
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Khatyrka settlement, Chukotka, Russia
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| Contact details
(phone/fax//e-mail//address): |
| (3439)368184 // parus_montanus@mail.ru; kamenka@k-uralsk.ru // Sverdlovskaya 20-201, Kamensk-Uralsky, Sverdlovsskaya Oblast, 623414 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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21.08
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7.09
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WEATHER
CONDITIONS
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Weather conditions: |
| During the stay at Khatyrka from 21 August - 7 September day-time air temperatures rarely dropped below +10°Ñ, reaching +20-21°Ñ on the hottest days, while rare precipitation occurred as fog or drizzle.
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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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Observations of mammalian predators were very rare. Red Foxes were seen on a spit of Mallen Lagoon and near Khatyrka, and a single female bear with cub was recorded at the latter locality.
Rough-legged Buzzards were common near Khatyrka, where one Kestrel and one White-tailed Sea Eagle were also recorded. Hunting Gyrfalcons and Peregrine Falcons were seen regularly at Mallen Lagoon, and Merlins were recorded twice there. Pelagic Cormorants, Harlequin Ducks, Herring Gulls, Glaucous Gulls and Kittiwakes were common in the Khatyrka delta area. Sandhill Cranes were observed frequently to the north-west of the settlement in groups of 4-8 birds, and we also recorded an American Wigeon and a Magpie there. Flocks of Turnstones appeared from 27 August, and we counted 500-600 birds in a concentration at a 300-400 m long stretch of a river bank.
Juvenile Western Sandpipers were common from 3-6 September on the spit of Mallen Lagoon where they occurred in flocks of 10-70, totalling 250-300 birds, and formed mixed concentrations with Dunlins. An area of the channel from the lagoon was inhabited by approximately 2000 Harlequin Ducks, 300 Emperor Geese (including no more than 10-15% juveniles), and less than 100 White-fronted Geese. One Grey-tailed Tattler was recorded.
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Rodent dynamics:
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| Voles occurred at low densities, and lemmings were not recorded. Arctic Ground Squirrels were common, and locally numerous in the settlement vicinity.
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Rodent species recorded:
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Summary
of fauna studies: |
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