From
a rearranged translation of Vladimir
Dinets original pages to norwegian,
with supplements.
Klikk på flagg for norsk versjon
Tidal
flats, Russkaya Koshka Spit, Chukotka, Russia.
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Of all bird species inhabiting sand spits of Chukotka, sandpipers
are the most diverse group. Sixteen species nest here, and at
least seven more show up during migration.
The sandpipers are a large family, Scolopacidae, of waders
or shorebirds. They include many species called sandpipers,
as well as those called by names such as curlew and snipe. The
majority of these species eat small invertebrates picked
out of the mud or soil. Different lengths of bills enable different
species to feed in the same habitat, particularly on the
coast, without direct competition for food. |
Sandsnipe,
Calidris pusilla, Belyaka Neset.
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Small sandpipers are also the only Arctic birds that can be really
difficult to identify.
Dunlins, Calidris alpina, Russkaya Koshka Spit.
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Rock sandpiper (C. ptilocnemis), Belyaka Spit.
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Nests of red-necked stint, Calidris ruficollis,, Belyaka
Spit.
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Dunlin nest, Belyaka Spit.
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Small sandpipers almost always lay four eggs. They lose a lot
of clutches and chicks to bad weather and predators (from lemmings
and gulls to bears and reindeer, but especially to skuas and Arctic
foxes). Their chicks look so delicate and vulnerable, it's hard
to imagine how any of them manage to survive in the cold, windy,
merciless world of coastal spits |
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Temmink's
stint, Calidris temminckii, chicks, Ioanna River spit.
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Various sandpiper species differ in their behavior at nest.
Temmink's stint are particularly tame, so their nests and chicks
are relatively easy to find. |
Temmink's stint chick, Ioanna River spit.
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Dunlin nest
with chicks, Belyaka Spit
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Reeve,
Philomachus pugnax, Kazachka River delta
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Spoon-billed sandpiper
nests only on coastal spits. It's the rarest bird of the Arctic:
the population has dropped from 2000 to 200 in six years due to
loss of stopover sites in Korea and poaching in Myanmar |
Spoon-billed sandpipers nest along the outer side of the spits,
and feed on numerous small tundra lakes.
They apparently use their weird bills to get tiny invertebrates
from the mud |
Marsh marigold, Caltha palustris arctica, is a common
lake plant of coastal spits. Belyaka Spit.
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Northern pintail, Anas acuta, is common
on tundra lakes all over
Chukotka. Belyaka Spit
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Long-tailed ducks, Clangula hyemalis, Russkaya Koshka
Spit.
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Long-tailed ducks and a red-necked phalarope,
Russkaya Koshka Spit.
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Long-tailed ducks, Belyaka Spit.
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These shallow lakes have cold clear water, little or no fish,
but lots of birds. |
This
small gravel spit not far from Anadyr Airport is one of the
best birdwatching sites on Chukotka
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Fritillary, Boloria freja,
Belyaka Spit.
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You might even see butterflies and dragonflies
on coastal spits.
Azure
hawker, Aeshna caerulea, Sbornaya Spit.
They are uncommon, and mostly show up during warm summers
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Fritillary, Belyaka Spit
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Aerial
views of lake tundras covering Belyaka Spit, Chukotka
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Spits along the northern coast of Chukotka are sometimes surrounded
by sea ice until July.
Sea ice off Belyaka Spit.
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Sea ice off Belyaka Spit.
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Even
more Sea ice off Belyaka Spit..
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There is special beauty to those strips of young, fragile land
- barren and desolate at first sight,
full of gentle life and subtle complexity at closer look
Belyaka Spit.
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Belyaka Spit.
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Tidal flats, Russkaya Koshka Spit, Chukotka, Russia.
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Part 5. Lowland-tundra
Back to Part
3
All
pictures, unless otherwise stated, Copyright © Vladimir
Dinets
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