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RESPONDENT
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Konstantin Litvin
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SITE NAME
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Kolokolkova Guba coast, Tobseda settlement, Russia
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| Contact details
(phone/fax//e-mail//address): |
| +7(499)135-9802/+7(499)135-9802(f) // bird.ring.rus@gmail.com; kelitvin@gmail.com // Bird Ringing Centre, Moscow, 117312, Russia
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PROJECT DETAILS |
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Project name:
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Studies of Barnacle Goose ecology on coastal marshes
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Start of survey:
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End
of survey: |
Team
size: |
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24.05
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15.08
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5
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WEATHER
CONDITIONS
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Weather conditions: |
| According to observations from 24 May to 15 August the spring was relatively late compared with the two previous years. Ice-break on the Pechora River in the Naryan-Mar town area occurred during the last ten days of May, when snow almost completely melted in the town. In the Tobseda area snowfalls occurred regularly until 10 June, and air temperatures dropped below freezing until 12 June, occasionally reaching -4°C. Approximately 85% of the area was snow-covered in late May, and snow only melted completely in the area of the Barnacle Geese colony by 17 June. June was cold with a mean monthly air temperature of +4.5°C, but July and August were considerably warmer than formerly, with mean monthly air temperature of +12.1°C in each month. Precipitation was recorded on 28 of 85 days, and the summer was foggy, windy, occasionally with strong thunderstorms and storms.
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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: |
low
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Breeding conditions:
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Avian rodent-specialists were not recorded in the tundra adjacent to the dunes, probably because of low rodent abundance.
In contrast to previous years Arctic Foxes were regularly observed in the Tobseda area in 2007, and predation by foxes resulted in considerable losses of eggs and entire clutches of Barnacle Geese in some parts of the colony, as well as clutches of White-fronted Geese.
Weak migration of Barnacle, Brent, White-fronted and Bean geese, was recorded already at the start of observations on 25 May, and there was an increase of intensity of migration on 28 May. Mass migration of Brent Geese took place on 5 June, when over 13,000 birds were recorded from one observation point. The migration of Barnacle Geese was prolonged and peaked on 28 May, 11 and 12 June. Geese migration was over on 13 June.
The first nests of Barnacle Geese were found on 31 May, but most of the early clutches were deserted, probably, because of heavy snowfalls during the first ten days of June. The start of their nesting peaked on 7-8 June. As usual, the mean clutch size was higher in the mainland part of the Barnacle Goose colony (3.86 0.04 eggs, n=868) than on Chayachiy Islands in the northern part of the Kolokolkova Bay (3.59 0.05 eggs, n=797).
For the first time a complete count of all Barnacle Goose nests in the Kolokolkova Bay was conducted in 2007 using GPS. The total number of nests was 2500, including 1200 at the mainland, 875 on Chayachy Islands, and 209 on Southern Chayachy Islands in the Neruta River delta at the south of the bay. In contrast to previous years, large-scale flooding of coastal lowland marshes did not happen in 2007. The nest success of Barnacle Geese was relatively low, on average 54.5%. It is noteworthy that more birds, including incubating females, were killed, presumably by White-tailed Sea Eagles.
The nesting density of White-fronted Geese decreased in 2007 compared with previous years, and we found only 21 nest. It is probable that more geese initiated nests but their clutches were destroyed before the start of incubation in this late season. The start of incubation peaked on 8-11 June. The mean clutch size was 3.77 eggs, and nest success was low, as 5 broods were produced in 21 nests.
We did not conduct special nest surveys for ducks and waders. However, breeding success was low in these birds, as only rare broods of few species were recorded. Generally breeding conditions in 2007 were unfavourable for birds.
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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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