Report : setinfo

RESPONDENT
Theunis Piersma

SITE NAME
Sterligov Point, Taimyr, Russia

Contact details (phone/fax//e-mail//address):
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PROJECT DETAILS

Project name:

Start of survey:	End of survey:	Team size:

WEATHER CONDITIONS

Season phenology:

late

Weather conditions:

On the coastal arctic tundra winter snow melted at least one week later than usual. After 18 June, average daily temperatures were above freezing, which caused the snow to melt rapidly (50% cover on 21 June), and the weather was favourable for birds until 4 July. Later in July and August, however, it turned cold and wet with fog, drizzle and heavy rain. In the period when birds had chicks, the temperature rarely exceeded 5шC.

Season temperature:

cold

Season humidity:

rainy

Date of 50% snow-cover:

21.06

Date of ice-break on rivers:

Date of final loss of snow:

BIOTIC CONDITIONS

Rodents abundance evaluation:

low

Breeding conditions:

Numbers of lemmings were low, thus Snowy Owls and Arctic Foxes did not breed, and few nests of Pomarine or Long-tailed Skuas were found. After the second week of July most wader nests observed were predated by Arctic Foxes, and predation of nests and chicks by skuas was also recorded. In spite of the cold weather and predator pressure, chicks in some broods of Knots, Turnstones and Grey Plovers fledged successfully. At the same time there were no resightings of colour-marked broods of Little Stint and Curlew Sandpiper, an indication of the increased level of their mortality.

Rodent dynamics:

Rodent species recorded:

Latin	Abundance

Summary of fauna studies:

Group of species	Presence	Abundance	Breeding	Detailed studies
arctic foxes	Yes		no
lemmings	Yes	rare
waders	Yes		fledging	Yes
skuas	Yes		breeding
pomarine skuas	Yes		breeding
owls	Yes		no