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Breeding Conditions for Waders in the Tundras of the USSR in 1990

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Breeding Conditions for Waders in the Tundras of the USSR in 1990 Breedingconditions for waders in the tundras of the USSR in 1990 A.K. Yuvlov(ed.) (translatedby JadwigaGrornadzka) Yurlov,A.K. 1993. Breedingconditions for wadersin the tundrasof the USSR in 1990. Wader Study GroupBull. 67: 57- 62. J. Gromadzka,Ornithological Station, 80-690 Gdansk40, Poland 3. Kolquyev Island Informationconcerning the 1990 breedingseason for arcticwaders in northernUSSR is presentedas for the previoustwo years (WSG Bulletin57:40-41 and WSG Springwas cooland prolongedwith many snow Bulletin64:51-54 respectively).Each of the following patchesremaining in the northernpart of the Islandto numberedsections refers to an area shown in Figure 1. the end of June. The weather at the end of June/ At the end of each section the name of the relevant beginningof Julywas cold,with muchwind, rain and informantis given. mist. The developmentof vegetationwas 1.5 - 2 weeks later than in the previousseason. Lemmingswere Giventhe very lowlemming populations over most of absent. There were average densitiesof ArcticFox, the tundra in summer 1989, coupledwith the low ArcticSkua, SnowyOwl Nycteascandiaca and gulls. reproductivesuccess of the ArcticFox (WSG Bulletin The most common waders were Dunlin, Little Stint 65:51-54) it was predictedthat fox numberswould be Calidrisminuta and Grey PloverPluvialis squatarola. low in 1990 creatingfavourable conditions for tundra Less numerousspecies were RingedPlover Charadrius breedingbirds. The actualsituation for the 1990 breed- hiaticula,Turnstone Arenaria interpresand Red-necked ing season is as follows, PhalaropePhalaropus Iobatus. Oystercatchers were breedingin sandyareas. The overallbreeding success 1. Kola Peninsula - northern coast was considered as moderate. Springstarted exceptionally early with snow and much ( T.S. Ponomareva) of the lake ice meltingin April.However, cold weather in May and June delayedproceedings, stormy weather 4. Eastern Bol'shezemel'skaya Tundra throughoutthe summer.Lemming abundance was very low.Very few wadersand otherbird species were Between the latitudes of 66030 ' and 67030 ' snow cover breedingin thisarea of the tundra. meltedexceptionally early, and between67ø45'N and 68ø30'Nit meltedslightly earlier than normal.River ice (J. V. Krasnov) broke-upearlier, by the end of May/beginningof June. The summerwas very hot and dry; between22 June 2. Kanin Peninsula - western coast (Shoyna vicinity) and 28 Julythere were onlythree rainydays with temperaturesreaching 28-35øC between 7 and 21 July. Springweather conditions were average in 1990. The abundanceof lemmingswas very low. ArcticFox, Lemmingswere however,not presentthough voles Rough-leggedBuzzard Buteo lagopus and Short-eared were commonin some places. Large gullsand the Owl Asio flarnrneus did not breed, their overall numbers ArcticSkua Stercorariusparasiticus had normal-sized being low. Hen HarrierCircus cyaneus, Long-tailed broods.The densityof mostcommon waders was high, Skua StercorariusIongicaudus did breed. Harrier i.e. OystercatcherHaematopus ostralegus, Temminck's numberswere howeverextremely low, and most Long- Stint Calidristemminckii, Dunlin Calidris alpina and Ruff tailed Skuas onlyhad one egg - despitenormal nesting Philomachuspugnax. Predation by gullsand skuason density.This dearthof predatorsenabled waders to wader broodswas average. ArcticFoxes Alopex achieve high breedingsuccess. lagopusdid not occur. ( V.V, Morozov) ( V.V. Leonovichand A. V. Filchagov) 57 Figure1 Numbersrelate to locationsdescribed in text 5. Yugorskiy Peninsula average, mostprobably because of the activityof raptors. Springwas a littleearlier with snow cover lost between the 8 and 15 June, and river ice breakingup between 9 ( V.N. Kalyakin) and 12 June. Summerwas hot and dry;favourable conditionsfor blood-suckinginsects, in particular, 7. Middle Yamal - lower Seyakhi-Mutnoyand Mordy- Simulidaewere numerous.The abundance of lemmings yakhi rivers was low.Rough-legged Buzzard, Snowy Owl and skuas (threespecies) did not breed.Only few pairsof Springwas one to two weeks earlierthan usual.The GlaucousGull Larushyperboreus attempted breeding. summerwas very warm (rivertemperatures reached ArcticFoxes did not reproduce;generally the inhabited 24øC)and dry. However,the weatherchanged for the inlandareas of the Peninsula,with only solitary worseat the beginningof August.Compared to the individuals encountered near the coast. As a result of previousyear, densitiesof Ruff,Red-necked Phalarope the favourableweather and low predation,breeding and RingedPlover were high,but in contrast,densities successof waders and duckswas high. of Dunlin,Little Stint, Common Snipe Gallinagogalli- nago,Pintail Snipe Gallinagostenura and Jack Snipe ( V.V. Morozov) Lymnocryptesminimus were lower.Generally, the breedingsuccess of waderswas normalor a little 6. NovayaZemlya - southernisland (near Sakhanin higherthan normal.Wader lossesdue to weatheror and vicinity of Krest-to lake) predationappeared to be minimal. Springwas veryearly. Ice haddisappeared from the ( S.P. Paskhal'ny/} BarentSea and Kara Sea by the end of April,2.5 months earlier than normal. The summer was very 8. Middle Yamal - lower Yuribey river warmand dry.There were lowlemming and ArcticFox numbers,and SnowyOwl did not breed.Skuas Springwas early and relativelydry, with heavy rains appearedin tundrain flocksof non-breedersup to mid- appearingfrom mid-August. The SnowyOwl did not July.Breeding success of waderswas lowerthan on breed. Breedingsuccess of raptorsand their impacton 58 11. Northern Gydan - Mamonta Peninsula breedingwaders were lowerthan usual.However, wader numberswere notsignificantly higher in com- parisonto the previousyear, although Grey Plover were In the vicinityof the Matyui-Saletrading-post, weather a littlemore abundantand CommonSnipe were much conditionsand ecologicalprocesses on the tundra took more numerous than usual. placeas normal.Ice had meltedon the Dalem-Lekab- tambda River by 31 June. Summerweather was ( V.G. Shtro) generallyfavourable, though an adversechange in the weatherduring hatching reduced some wader broods. 9. Middle Yamal (station "Khanovey"68 ø 40'N) and The number of lemmingswas very low but a small Northern Yamal (station "Yaybari" 71ø 00' N) increasewas noticedby the end of the summer.Arctic Fox, SnowyOwl and Rough-leggedBuzzard were all Springwas very early butquite cool, yet snowcover scarce, but they bred. The numberof skuaswas highto and ice melted 1 to 1.5 weeks earlier than usual. The mid-August,though only a few Long-tailedand summerwas warm, withoutheavy rainsor cold snaps. PomarineSkuas were breeding.Breeding success of Thus, the weather conditionsfor breedingbirds were waderswas lowerthan 1988 but much higherthan veryfavourable. As in 1989, the abundanceof lem- 1989. The most numerous breeders were Little Stint, mingswas very low,with only a few SiberianLemming RingedPlover and Tumstone.Temminck's Stint, Lemmus sibiricus encountered. The abundance of the CurlewSandpiper Calidris ferruginea and Grey Plover ArcticFox seemed to be lowerthan on average. Only a were quitecommon, and Dunlinand LesserGolden few Rough-leggedBuzzards were breeding.Non- Plover Pluvialisfulva were rare. Only single pairsof breedingPomarine Skua Stercorariuspomarinus and Ruff, Bar-tailedGodwit Limosa lapponicaand Red- Long-tailedSkua were relativelynumerous. Breeding necked Phalaropewere breeding. attemptsof Arcticand Long-tailedSkuas were unsuc- cessful.General breedingsuccess of waders (as ( V.S.Zhukov, E.S. E#movand V. Kan) measuredby egg hatching)in the NorthernYamal was 56%. In more detail, chicks hatched from 74% of Dunlin 12. Sibiryakov Island - southern coast eggs;from 59% of Grey Plovereggs; and from47% of LittleStint eggs. The breedingsuccess of waderswas Springwas earlierthan normal,and by 19 Junethe vast similarin the MiddleYamal; Wood Sandpiper Tringa majorityof the tundrawas free from snow cover. glareolaand Ruffwere the mostsuccessful breeders. However lakes were still frozen and snow remained in rivervalleys. The ice coveron the Kara Sea malted ( V.K. Ryabitsevand N.S. Alekseeva) around5-10 July. Weatherwas favourablethroughout the relativelywarm, thoughrainy, breedingseason. 10. Southern Yamal - basin of Shuch'ey river There were no snow-stormsduring incubation,but it rained heavilyduring the hatchingperiod of Dunlinand The tundrawas free of snow by mid-Juneand river ice firstpeak of LittleStint (around 7 July).Weather was has brokenup by the end of May (i.e. ca. two weeks generallysuitable during the whole chick-rearingperiod, earlierthan usual). Summerwas dry and hot, and only and there were severalwarm (over 20øC), sunnydays at the end of June was there some rain. Around 20 after 20 July. Lemmingswere certainlyrare in terms of June the temperatureduring the day raisedup to 20øC, visual observation. The clutches of the Pomarine and and from mid-July,for almosttwo weeks, the tempera- Long-tailedSkuas, bothspecies which do not breed ture raisedup to 35øC.The numberof lemmingsand when lemmingsare scarce, may howeversuggest that other rodents was low. Arctic Foxes were not visible lemmingswere locallyabundant. Very few ArcticFoxes and did not reproduce.Owls did not appear, skuas were presentin the studyarea, most probablyas a were met sporadically,Rough-legged Buzzard did not resultof heavy huntingat this vicinityduring preceding breedand onlygulls were presentin usualnumbers. winter.As a result,egg-losses resulted mostly from The low numberof predatorsand favourableweather tramplingby domesticReindeer Rangifer tarandus and createdsuitable
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