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ISSN 0869-4362
Русский орнитологический журнал 2007, Том 16, Экспресс-выпуск 370: 999-1019
Ornithological observations
in the Barents and Kara Seas
during the summers of 2003, 2004 and 2005
S.Lunk1), D.Joern2)
1)1 Stefan Lunk, Barkenkoppel 41, 22391 Hamburg, Germany. [email protected]
2) Dieter Joern, Riesebyer Str. 156, 24340 Eckernförde, Germany. [email protected]
Поступила в редакцию 29 September 2006
Places like Franz Josef Land, Severnaya Zemlya and Kara Sea have always seemed magical and somewhat mystical, and not only to German ornithologists. Over one hundred years ago, Henry J. Pearson, a British ornithologist, described the "Arctic Fever, which generally attacks those who have spent even a summer in the north" when he travelled to the remote and mystical places of the distant Russian Arctic in 1895 and 1897 (Pearson 1899, p. 56). We were already infected with Pearson's "Arctic Fever" from our previous bird-watching trips to northern Norway, Iceland, Greenland and Svalbard, and more than one hundred years after Pearson's evocative words, it is clear that the high Russian Arctic has lost none of its appeal. We consider ourselves to be very privileged to have had the opportunity to sail these northern waters during the summers of 2003,
2004 and 2005.
Study area, materials and methods
In the summer of 2003, we embarked on a trip on board the icebreaker Kapitan Dranitsyn. On 13 July 2003 the ship left Longyearbyen on Svalbard, turned south until within sight of Bjornoya (Bear Island) and then headed northeast to the Franz Josef Land archipelago where we mainly visited the southern part of the archipelago. After a short stop at Bjornoya on the way back, we again reached Longyearbyen on 24 July 2003.
From 30 July to 10 August 2004 Dieter Joern repeated this voyage except that the Kapitan Dranitsyn sailed from and to Kirkenes, Finnmarken province, Norway. There was less ice in 2004 than in 2003, and so the Kapitan Dranitsyn made further progress toward the centre of the Franz Josef Land archipelago.
In 2005, Stefan Lunk went aboard the Yamal, departing from Murmansk via Victoria Island to the geographical North Pole and returning to Murmansk via Franz Josef Land. This trip lasted from 1 to 13 August 2005. Also during 2005, Dieter Joern went twice to Franz Josef Land (4 July to 13 July and 14 July to 24 July 2005) and twice to Severnaya Zemlya via the northern tip of Novaya Zemlya and back through the Kara Sea (25 July to 8. August and 9 August to 25 August 2005). Dieter Joern's four voyages in 2005 were made on board the Kapitan Dranitsyn departing from and returning to Murmansk. All of our voyages in 2003 and 2004 were as tourists and in
2005 we worked as lecturers on board the vessels.
Sva.bard- Franz Josef Land 13.07,- 24.07.2003 Kirkenes - Franz Josef Land 30.07. -10.08.2004 Murmansk - Franz-Josef Land 04.07. - 24.07.2005 Murmansk - Severnaya Zem.ya 25.07. - 25.08.2005 Murmansk - North Po,e 01.08.- 13.08.2005
Figure 1. Routes of the six voyages referred to in this article
undertaken by the authors on board Kapitan Dranitsyn and Yamal in 2003, 2004 and 2005.
Most attention was paid to the bird fauna of rarely visited areas like Franz Josef Land and the Kara Sea islands while we did not concentrate on observations made around Svalbard, Bjornoya or the open waters of the Barents Sea, places much more frequented by ornithologist. We spent as much time out on deck as possible and registered all of the birds and mammals we observed. A handful of landings were made on Franz Josef Land by helicopter or by Zodiac rigid inflatable. Three landings were
made on Severnaya Zemlya, two on Novaya Zemlya, one on Vaigach and two landings were made on Vize Island. No landing was made on Victoria Island even though in 2004 and 2005 we neared the shore of this remote place located between eastern Sval-bard and western Franz Josef Land. Non-sea-birds are underrepresented in this overview and despite the many hours of watching for wildlife, the observations reported in this article are by no means representative or comprehensive. That said, the locations we were privileged to visit are rarely visited by ornithologists and therefore we believe that our observations are valuable, and that our contribution to the world's knowledge of the Russian Arctic will inspire conservation of this unique ecosystem for the benefit of generations to come.
Ice Conditions and Weather
In 2003 the ice conditions were difficult in and around the Franz Josef Land archipelago. That year the Kapitan Dranitsyn navigated as far north as Cape Heller, located at 80°46VN and 59°28VE on the north-western part of Wilczek Land. Air temperatures seldom rose above +3° C. Fast ice covered all of the channels within the archipelago and large drift-ice fields came as far south as 70 km off the northern coast of Bjornoya.
In 2004 however, the archipelago and all channels within it were virtually ice-free. Open water stretched up to Rudolf Island, 81°40VN, 58°00VE, where the first ice of the journey was encountered. Fog was moderate during both journeys in 2004.
In 2005 ice conditions were somewhat split. During the first voyage the British Channel and the waters around the islands in the centre of the archipelago were covered with fast ice, while strong south-westerly winds had moved the ice out of these areas during the second journey. Consequently no closed ice fields were seen during the second journey. Fog was dense for the greater part of both 2005 trips and the daytime air temperature averaged +2°C. During the first trip, scattered ice was seen at 79°31VN and 78°47VE while sailing to Severnaya Zemlya via the northern tip of Novaya Zemlya and close ice was seen as far east as 80°43VN, 101°10VE in the Laptev Sea. The dense fog made birding rather difficult as we saw no signs of the coast even when sailing close to Severnaya Zemlya. Due to these severe ice conditions in the Laptev Sea, the second voyage was confined to the waters on the west coast of Severnaya Zemlya. The easternmost point reached on this voyage was at 101°31VE, where the visibility was much improved with fog being the exception. The temperatures during both voyages varied from +3° to 0°C. However, on 14 August 2005, scientists at the local weather station on Vize Island confirmed a record breaking high temperature of +4°C. During the trip to the North Pole the first ice was encountered just north of Victoria Island, located at 80°13VN, 36°42VE. While sailing back from the Pole via Franz Josef Land we encountered no more ice once we entered the British Channel. The weather at the geographical North Pole, which we reached on 7 August, 2005, was extraordinary: there was no wind, it was sunny without clouds or fog and the temperature hovered around freezing.
List on the birds seen during the voyages in 2003, 2004 and 2005
Following are our comments on the birds observed during our 20032005 voyages as described above. Wherever possible we compared our observations with the current status of the ornithofauna as described in the available scientific literature.
Gavia adamsii. On July 10, 2005, Dieter Joern spotted one yellow-billed diver in breeding plumage flying twice over Teplitz Bay, on northwestern Rudolf Island, Franz Josef Land. The bird was calling loudly while it flew. This is the first record of this species in Franz Josef Land (Lunk 2004). On 3 August 2005 two adult individuals were seen near Cape Tscheljuskin, Taimyr (77°44VN, 104°00VE) and one individual was flying in the Nordenskjold archipelago (76°08VN, 94°29VE) on 18 August 2005. The bird is a rare visitor to Svalbard (Strom in: Kovacs 2005), is an extremely rare breeder on Novaya Zemlya (Pearson 1899; Kalyakin 2001; Il'icev, Flint 1985) and rarely found breeding on the Taimyr Peninsula (Novak, Pavlov 1995), a place however with relatively high numbers of this species (Flint 1982). It does not breed on the islands of Izvestiy TSIK or Sverdrup in the Kara Sea where it is a transient (Syroechkovski, Lappo 1994). G. adamsii has not been recorded on Severnaya Zemlya (De Korte, Volkov, Gavrilo 1995). In recent years the bird has become a single yet regular visitor to northern Norway, in particular to the Varanger Fjord (Frantzen, Dransfeld, Hunsdal 1991).
Gavia stellata. Both observations were made in 2005. On 5 August one red-throated diver was flying north of Byely Island, Kara Sea (73° 47VN, 69°59VE), and on 18 August one adult with one juvenile could be observed on the Nordenskjold archipelago, 76°08VN, 94°29VE. The bird is a rare breeder on Novaya Zemlya (Kalyakin 2001), the islands in the Kara Sea (Syroechkovski, Lappo 1994) and on Severnaya Zemlya (De Korte, Volkov, Gavrilo 1995) with only a few dozen pairs reported on Franz Josef Land (Uspenskiy, Tomkovic 1987). Regarding at sea distribution and high numbers of this species in the southern Kara Sea during migration along the coast and on some islands, i.e. Bely, see: Gavrilo, Nordin (1995) and Decker et al. 1998 .
Fulmarus glacialis. We observed small flocks and single birds following the ship during all voyages. At each of Rubini Rock and Champ Island no more than 50 northern fulmars were seen in the vicinity of the bird rocks on Franz Josef Land. Only single birds showed the whitish plumage while all others displayed the greyish plumage. The northernmost Fulmar was spotted at 80°47VN, 39°09VE while on the way to the North Pole in 2005. Furthermore, in 2005 almost no fulmars were observed in the Kara Sea, and by far the most observations were made in the Barents Sea (see Decker et al. 1998, Matishov et al. 2005 concerning the distribution of F. glacialis in the Kara Sea). The largest flocks comprised of up to 70 birds following fishing boats. This species does not breed in Kara Sea and occurs here only while foraging in open waters (Bakken, Gavrilo 1995; Gavrilo, Bakken 2000).
Sula bassana. On 10 August 2005, at 70°41VN, 38°16VE, Dieter Joern observed two northern gannets (second and third year according to plum-
age) flying in the southern Barents Sea 180 km off of the Murman coast. Since 1995, S. bassana have been breeding in a colony on Kharlov Island off of the Murman coast, which is the first Russian breeding ground (Barrett, Krasnov in: Anker-Nilssen et al. 2000).
Branta leucopsis. On 16 July 2003 we observed three birds flying along the shore of Alger Island and on 7 August 2004 two individuals were flying at Cambridge Bay, Alexandra Land, Franz Josef Land. The first confirmed record for this species in the archipelago was only made in 1994 at Hooker Island by Todd (1996), who saw a brood of flightless goslings. W^slawski & Stempniewicz (in: Barr 1995) note the bird as scarce visitor without detailed (breeding) records. Gavrilo et. al. (1993) and Us-penskiy & Tomkovic (1987) doubt that a valid record exists prior to 1993 and hold that an observation made in August 1960 (Parovshchikov 1962) is not reliable. B. leucopsis is a regular breeder on Novaya Zemlya and Vaigach expanding via Kolguev Island into the southern Barents Sea (Mehlum, Pokrovskaya in: Anker-Nilssen et al. 2000).
Branta bernicla. Dieter Joern noticed 2 adult brent geese at Champ Island, Franz Josef Land, on 8 July 2005. The light-bellied sub-species B. b. hrota breeds on Svalbard and Franz Josef Land, while the dark bellied nominate sub-species is confined to the Kara Sea and south-eastern Barents Sea with a somewhat uncertain status on Novaya Zemlya (Mehlum, Pokrovskaya in: Anker-Nilssen et al. 2000). B. b. bernicla is also a not numerous breeder on Severnaya Zemlya (De Korte, Volkov, Gavrilo 1995). Information for this species on Franz Josef Land varies but ranges up to 1.000 individuals (Uspenskiy, Tomkovic 1987) and up to 100 pairs (W^slawski, Stempniewicz in: Barr 1995).
Somateria mollissima. On 20 July 2003 we found a nest of the common eider with 5 eggs within the former polar station at Tichaya Bay on Hooker Island. The only other eider ducks we saw within Franz Josef Land were at Cape Heller, Wilczek Land, on 18 July 2003 (8 males, 6 females). In 2004 the following observations were made: 1 August 3 males flying westbound at Alexandra Land; 3 August 4 females near Teplitz Bay, Rudolf Island; 4 August one female breeding on Champ Island; 5 August 9 female plumaged birds south of Hall Island. In 2005 the following observations were made: 7 July near Hooker Island 1 male, 3 females; 8 July Wilczek Land 1 male, 3 females; 9 July one pair Appolonov Island; 17 July 1 female Jackson Island; 19 July 1 male and 6 females Appolonov Island and 9 brown individuals flying Wilczek Land; 20 July one female -probably breeding - on Champ and one female on McClintock Island. The total population for the archipelago is deemed to be 1.000 pairs (Boustnes, Tertitski in: Anker-Nilssen et al. 2000). The common eider breeds on the islands in the Kara Sea (Syroechkovski, Lappo 1994) but is a transient and even occasional breeder on Severnaya Zemlya (De Korte, Volkov,
Gavrilo 1995; Volkov, pers. com.). The Kara Sea islands indicate the easternmost limit of the nominative race distribution. Outside Franz Josef Land we saw only 10 males and 20 females on 28 July 2005 near the shoreline at northern Novaya Zemlya and on 13 August we observed one female 120 km to the northeast of the coast of northern Novaya Zemlya at 77°41VN, 72°03VE.
Polysticta stelleri. Approaching Vaigach Island on 21 August 2005, Magnus Forsberg, also guide on board the Kapitan Dranitsyn on the second trip to Severnaya Zemlya in 2005 (Forsberg 2005), observed a flock of approximately 100 Steller's eiders flying along the coastline, at least 5-10 of which were males in eclipse plumage. This species is known to occur in SE Barents Sea while on migration (Isaksen, Strom, Gavrilo, Krasnov 2000, Krasnov, Gavrilo, Chernook 2004).
No other duck species such as the king eider Somateria spectabilis, long-tailed duck Clangula hyemalis or black scoter Melanitta nigra were seen on either voyage even though all of these species are common breeders along the coast of the SE Barents Sea and mainland of the Kara Sea and numerous at sea while moulting and migrating (Gavrilo, Bakken, Isaksen 1998; Krasnov et al. 2004; Flint, Golovkin 1994).
Accipiter gentilis. On 23 August 2005, Magnus Forsberg and Dieter Joern observed one apparent juvenile (Forsberg 2005) goshawk landing on the deck of the Kapitan Dranitsyn and roosting there for 3 hours while in the Barents Sea between Kolguyev Island and the south western coast of Novaya Zemlya at 70°07VN, 53°27VE. This observation, including some pictures of the bird, was made rather far away from the closest recorded breeding areas (see Flint et al. 1984).
Falco peregrinus. Magnus Forsberg and Dieter Joern observed one individual flying out of a cliff at the south coast of Vaigach Island on 21 August 2005. Breeding is confirmed for the southern part of Novaya Zemlya (Dement'ev, Gladkov 1951a) with single birds seen on the northern part as well (Pearson 1899) and one record for Severnaya Zemlya (De Korte, Volkov, Gavrilo 1995).
Calidris maritima. The following observations were made on Franz Josef Land for which a total population of below 100 breeding pairs is estimated (W^slawski, Stempniewicz in: Barr 1995): In 2003 2 purple sandpipers were seen at Cape Heller on Wilczek Land, a clutch of 4 eggs and a juvenile was found at Tichaya Bay Station, Hooker Island, and calls were heard on Alger Island. No birds were found on Franz Josef Land in 2004 and in 2005 only an adult with one juvenile was seen on Bell Island on 22 July. Outside the archipelago 8 birds were seen flying south-west bound in the Wilkitzki Strait (78°52VN, 100°19VE) on 17 August 2005. The birds apparently came from Severnaya Zemlya where the purple sandpiper is a common but not numerous breeder (De Korte, Volkov, Gavrilo 1995).
Phalaropus lobatus. On 11 August 2005 ten birds were flying and calling near the ship while off the north-west coast of the Northern island of Novaya Zemlya (75°56VN, 57°14VE). There are no breeding indications for the northern part of Novaya Zemlya (Strann, Tatarinkova in: Anker-Nilssen et al. 2000; Flint et al. 1984; Dement'ev, Gladkov 1951c). The rednecked phalarope is known as a occasional vagrant to Franz Josef Land; on 16 June 1962 the male of a pair was killed at Cape Nimrod on Alexandra Land (Parovshchikov 1963; Uspenskiy, Tomkovic 1987).
Phalaropus fulicarius. All notes were taken in 2005. On 3 August Dieter Joern observed 11 individuals sitting on an ice floe and another 23 at sea near the eastern entrance to the Wilkitzki Strait (78°11VN, 109° 09VE). On 17 August he noticed 7 individuals flying along the edge of the ice between Bolshevik and October Revolution Island (78°52VN, 100° 19VE). The grey phalarope is recorded to be a rare transient only at Severnaya Zemlya (De Korte, Volkov, Gavrilo 1995). On 18 August Magnus Forsberg observed thousands of phalaropes swimming at the shoreline of Biruliya Bay, Taimyr (76°08VN, 94°29VE), with the ratio of grey and rednecked phalaropes being 1:100 (Forsberg 2005). He also recorded 25 pectoral sandpipers Calidris melanotos, 7 knots C. canutus, 10 little stints C. minuta, 5 curlew sandpipers C. ferruginea, 5 sharp-tailed sandpipers C. acuminata and 10 ringed plovers Charadrius hiaticula while walking along the coastline. C. acuminata is noteworthy as it is not included in the list of the birds of Taimyr by Novak & Pavlov (1995), has however been reported from Severnaya Zemlya (Gavrilo 1988).
Stercorarius pomarinus. Stefan Lunk saw no pomarine skuas while sailing from Tromso via Bear Island (Bjornoya) to Spitzbergen onboard the vessel Nordstjernen on 16 and 17 July 2000. However while sailing these same waters north east of Bear Island (75°30VN, 33°50VE) on 15 July 2003 we observed approximately 150 pomarine skuas (5-10% of which showed the dark phase), with the largest flocks roosting on icebergs comprising 28 and 26 birds. The day before, 14 July, we observed the first five pomarine skuas flying southbound while still within sight of the South Cape of Spitzbergen. On 31 July 2004, the largest flock in this area (74° N, 33° E) included 18 birds. Skuas seen in July 2003 and 2004 were probably non-breeders on their way west as migration away from the areas east of the Kara Sea starts already in mid July (Glutz 1982).
For Franz Josef Land the following observations were made: In 2003 between Alger Island and Cape Heller at least 4 birds and 2 ones were spotted at each of Cape Tegetthoff and Bell Island. In 2004 between 3 and 7 August the following observations were made: 1 + 5 north of Alexander Island (81°42VN, 56°36VE), 1 near Cape Tegetthoff (80°06VN, 57°55VE) and 1 near Bell Island (80°00VN; 49°10VE). In 2005 only 2 adult birds were seen: Wilczek Land on 19 July and Hall Island on 21 July.
Muschinkin (1995) reports probable breeding on Alger Island and Kalyakin (1993) reports the same for Alexandra Land. While W^slawski & Stempniewicz (in: Barr 1995) refer to probable breeding on Franz Josef Land, Frantzen (1992) as well as Gjertz & Morkved (1993) have noted 6 fledged juveniles and a breeding pomarine in the northeast of Wilczek Island where they observed a total of about 40 adult pomarines. Hagemeijer & Blair (1997) confirm the breeding record. Interestingly, Jackson (1899) saw no pomarine skuas at all during the "Thousand Days in the Arctic" he spent on Franz Josef Land from 1895-1897.
Nesting on Franz Josef Land is unusual as the breeding range of S. pomarinus is generally congruent with the distribution of its major prey, lemmings Lemmus sibiricus or Dicrostonyx torquatus (Glutz, 1982), which is not found on Franz Josef Land.
Outside the Franz Josef Land waters, the following noteworthy observations were made in 2005: 14 birds flying south all within 30 min of each other on 24 July in the southern Barents Sea (73°00VN, 37°50VE) might have been migrating. However on 26 July in the central Barents Sea (73° 06VN, 45°19VE) 110 birds were flying eastbound, which were probably non-breeders as very few of them showed breeding plumage. On 4 August we observed a flock of 50 birds flying over open ice in the southern Kara Sea (75°20VN, 85°09VE). Apart from these observations, single birds were seen almost daily in August 2005. The two northernmost pomarine skuas on the way to the North Pole via Victoria Island were located at 80°44VN, 38°17VE. Dieter Joern observed the northernmost birds (5 adults) in the Severnaya Zemlya waters on 15 August 2005 at Cape Arktitcheski (81° 18VN, 95°16VE), however Forsberg (2005) noted a total of about 200 skuas passing the ship in several flocks in this area on the same day. The bird is defined as uncommon migrant in the area of the archipelago by De Korte, Volkov & Gavrilo (1995). For Sverdrup Island 400-500 pomarine skuas visiting the island on migration are reported from end of July until beginning of August 1993 (Syroechkovski, Lappo 1994). In general nonbreeding pomarines are widely distributed in waters of both Kara and Barents Sea including the high Arctic archipelagos, their numbers in summer outside breeding grounds depend on the food situation and hence involvement of birds in breeding performance (Bakken, Gavrilo 1995).
Stercorarius longicaudus. In 2003 we observed only one long-tailed skua, which was seen on the open sea south of Franz Josef Land on 22 July (75°30VN, 30°4VE). In 2004 no long-tailed skuas could be spotted. All of the following notes were made in 2005: on the way to the Pole and back only one was seen about 200 km south of Victoria Island (78°11VN, 34° 31VE). Uspenskiy & Tomkovic (1987) saw 12 birds on 5 August 1981 on Graham Bell Island. A few more records exist, all covering single birds (Pleshak 2003). The northernmost long-tailed skuas (3 adults) were ob-
served at the northern coast of Severnaya Zemlya (81°18VN, 95°16VE) on 15 August with Forsberg (2005) observing about 100 birds passing the ship in several flocks on this day. While we saw single birds almost daily in the Kara Sea, the following flocks are noteworthy: 18 adults passing the ship within 30 min of each other on 4 August (76°10VN, 91°20VE); 17 on the same day at 75°25VN, 87°14VE and a flock of 19 adult birds hunting at Golomyanny Station, Severnaya Zemlya. S. longicaudus is considered an occasional breeder for Severnaya Zemlya by De Korte, Volkov & Gav-rilo (1995). Finally we saw 18 birds in the northern Kara Sea southwest of Vize Island on 30 July and we further observed 35 individuals following the ship for several hours on 23 July 270 km south of Franz Josef Land (77°37VN, 45°29VE).
Stercorarius parasiticus. The breeding population for Franz Josef Land is estimated to be a maximum of 100 pairs (W^slawski, Stemp-niewicz in: Barr 1995) while Krasnov & Lorentsen (in: Anker-Nilssen et al. 2000) mention 25.000-39.000 pairs for the whole of the Barents Sea. In 2003 we occasionally saw birds at the ship and a number of presumed breeding pairs: 1 near Newcomb Island, 1-2 on Champ Island near Cape Triest, 2 at Cape Heller, at least one at Cape Tegetthoff, 2-3 in the vicinity of Tichaya Bay, Hooker Island and 1 on Bell Island. In 2004 a pair was on Champ Island and 6 birds flocked together at Cape Tegetthoff, 3 at Cape Flora and 2 near Bell Island, all on 7 August. In 2005 two pairs were breeding on Champ Island, one was seen on Wilczek Land, one at Cape Tegetthoff, one on Jackson Island and three birds on Bell Island on 22 July. In the Kara Sea single birds were seen almost daily. The northernmost arctic skuas we observed were at the northern coast of Severnaya Zemlya (80°50VN, 91°41VE) on 15 August together with 20 other skuas which could not be identified - arctic or pomarine - and on the north-east coast of Severnaya Zemlya on 2 August (80°18VN, 103°06VE). S. parasiticus is considered a rare breeder on Severnaya Zemlya (De Korte, Volkov, Gavrilo 1995). Older publications do not include the archipelago when describing the breeding range (Il'icev, Zubakin 1990; Flint et al. 1984; De-ment'ev, Gladkov 1951c).
Catharacta skua. While we did not see a great skua in 2003, Dieter Joern observed a single bird 100 km north of the Murman coast on 31 July 2004 (71°00VN, 32°30VE). In 2005 he saw another single bird as far north as 100 km to the south-west of Vize Island (78°39VN, 74°32VE) on 30 July. It was mobbed by 18 long-tailed skuas. On 12 August 2005 Forsberg (2005) observed a suspected breeding pair doing wing displays several times on Bolshie Oranskie Island, northeastern Novaya Zemlya. This species has increased its breeding range north and eastwards into the Barents Sea since the 1980s (Strom in: Kovacs 2005; Krasnov, Lorentsen in: Anker-Nilssen et al. 2000; Hagemeijer, Blair 1997). The first record from
Franz Josef Land dates from 30 August 1991 when Frantzen (1992) noticed a great skua at the Tikhaya Bay station adjacent to Rubini bird rock. According to other Norwegian scientists, the bird had already been there a few days. On 20 August 1992 one great skua was mobbed by pomarine skuas on Komsomol Island (Gjertz, Morkved 1993). Pleshak (2002) saw one individual on each of 11 and 18 August 2001 on Victoria and Jackson Islands, respectively. At the end of August 2004, another single bird was seen in the archipelago (Gavrilo, pers. note).
Rissa tridactyla. We only visited the bird cliffs of Cape Triest, Champ Island, and Rubini Rock, Hooker Island, in all three years. For Rubini we believe the number of kittiwakes to be around 5.000 individuals in all three years. This is in line with the 5.000 individuals each seen in 1981 and 1991 by Belikov & Randla (1984) and Skakuj (1992). On 17 July 2005 we observed single birds feeding chicks. For Champ Island the picture seems different: when visiting in 2003 we estimated a minimum of 800 birds, while in 2005 we counted 1.500-2.000 birds (Stefan Lunk, 11 August) and 5.000 nesting places (Dieter Joern, 20 July with nest building activities on this day). Gavrilo et al. (1993) only mention 200 pairs. Thus an increase of this colony seems very likely. We saw two colonies which do not appear in the comprehensive overview of Gavrilo et al. (1993): Wilczek Island 40 pairs, some eggs laid already on 6 July 2005, and Nansen Island 1.600 pairs, 4 August 2005. With regard to Franz Josef Land, the estimates on breeding birds vary from > 30.000 pairs in 25 colonies (Barrett, Tertitski in: Anker-Nilssen et al. 2000) to < 20.000 individuals (Gavrilo et. al. 1993). No noteworthy observations were made in the Kara Sea or in the area of Severnaya Zemlya where the kittiwake is a common breeder (De Korte, Volkov, Gavrilo 1995). On the way to the North Pole the last kittiwakes were seen at 83°50VN, 49°04VE. However one kittiwake appeared at the wake of the Yamal only a few miles away from the North Pole. Similar observations of kittiwakes in the ice close to the North Pole at 89°58VN were made before, also on board the icebreaker Yamal (Par-mellee, Parmellee 1994).
Pagophila eburnea. We saw single adult birds only while visiting Franz Josef Land in 2003-2005. No nesting was observed. On 1 August 2004 while drifting off the coast of Victoria Island, Dieter Joern observed 240 ivory gulls next to the shore line and close to a group of 180 walruses. The visibility was good. No further gulls were seen on the island from the deck of the ship. Thus we assume that the 240 birds seen were the total population in 2004. On 3 August 2005 Stefan Lunk on board Yamal was drifting in front of the coast for a few hours. Unfortunately, the fog was thick on that day, we only got a glimpse of the island from far away and we saw only 5 ivory gulls circling the vessel in heavy fog. Two visits were paid to Vize Island on 30 July and 14 August 2005. The local scientists
reported 1.000 breeding ivory gulls on the island; Forsberg (2005) counted 150-200 individuals in the abandoned military station.
For Severnaya Zemlya a total population of up to 2.000 pairs in 25 colonies is mentioned by De Korte, Volkov & Gavrilo (1995). The sizes of the colonies are subject to annual changes. For example, the colony located on Domashniy Island showed 1.100 pairs in 1994 and only 410 pairs in 1995 (Volkov, de Korte 1996; Schuster 1999). While visiting the station on Golomyanny Island on 16 August 2005, the scientist mentioned 100 pairs breeding close to the station. We were not able to visit the site and thus can not confirm this number.
P. eburnea remains one of the most poorly understood seabird species in the world. For a recent revision of available information see Gavrilo & Strom (2004). Bauer et al. (2005) believe the world population to comprise 25.000 pairs; Volkov & de Korte (1996) assume 10.000 pairs for the entire Russian Arctic. Malling Olsen & Larsson (2004) refer to 2.000-2.500 pairs for Franz Josef Land and 9.000, possibly 25.000 pairs worldwide. The Russian population seems stable whereas a decline of the Canadian population is suggested by Mallory et al. (2003). According to Uspenskiy & Tomkovic (1987) Franz Josef Land shows the largest population of ivory gulls in all of Russia, however recent studies indicated major colonies in Severnaya Zemlya archipelago (Volkov, De Korte 1996; Gavrilo et al. 2007 in press.). The notes concerning concrete numbers are somewhat incoherent. Wçslawski & Malinga (1993) refer to 14 colonies while Bakken & Ter-titski (in: Anker-Nilssen et al. 2000) and Bakken (1997) name ten. The census by Bakken & Tertitski (in: Anker-Nilssen et al. 2000) indicated a minimum of 2.000 ivory gulls in the whole archipelago. On Victoria Island, located between eastern Svalbard and western Franz Josef Land, one of the largest colonies in the world existed in the mid-1990s with 200 pairs (Vuillenmier 1995), 230-260 pairs in 1994 (Charters www.calflora. net/northpole/index.html.) and even up to 750 pairs (Forsberg 1995; Bakken 2000). Close to 200 pairs were seen by Tomkovic (1984) on Graham Bell Island and a minimum of ten pairs by Frantzen (1992) at the former station Krenkel on Hayes Island and several pairs in the cliffs of Wilczek Land. Jackson (1899) found a colony with a few hundred pairs at Cape Mary Harmsworth on 7 August 1897. In the report of Eagle Clarke (1898) about the visit of this colony on 7 August 1897 reference is even made to "many thousands of these birds".
Xema sabini. The following observations of Sabine's gulls were made at the northern coast of Severnaya Zemlya in August 2005: 3 immatures roosting on a grounded iceberg on 1 August 2005 (81°23VN, 94°15VE). On the following day one adult (80°43VN, 101°10VE) and 5 Sabine's gulls, 2 of which were adults, were passing the ship (80°19VN, 103°06VE). On August 15, 1 immature (80°50VN, 91°41VE) and 8 adults (81°13VN, 92°59VE) were
flying close to the ship. According to Dement'ev & Gladkov (1951c) this species can be seen outside the breeding season on Franz Josef Land; however no concrete data are given. Published records with respect to the archipelago are not known (Tomkovic, pers. com.). On Svalbard this species reproduces more or less annually in single pairs (Bakken 2000; Koenig 1907; Strom in: Kovacs 2005). X. sabini is a rare vagrant on Sev-ernaya Zemlya (De Korte, Volkov, Gavrilo 1995); breeding is deemed possible in this area by Zockler (1997).
Rhodostethia rosea. The only Ross's gulls we observed were flying over the ice to the east of Severnaya Zemlya on 2 August 2005: one adult (80°43VN, 101°10VE) and 8, 4 of which were adults (80°19VN, 103°06VE). In his diary Nansen (1897) noted that this species was just as abundant as other gulls in north east Franz Josef Land. Nansen was wrong. Neither is the Ross's gull a breeding bird on Franz Josef Land nor is it as abundant as the other gulls. There are only a few non-breeders annually keeping in close contact with the ice in late summer and in that way pay a visit to the archipelago (Tomkovic, pers. com.). After leaving the breeding grounds beginning mid of July, which are mostly located at the east Siberian coast, most birds turn eastward (Andreev 1999; Il'icev, Zubakin 1990). Thus only a few reach Severnaya Zemlya, where it is an uncommon migrant (De Korte, Volkov, Gavrilo 1995), or even Franz Josef Land.
Larus argentatus. We saw the northernmost herring gull on 15 July 2003 on the open sea 450 km south of Franz Josef Land (75°25VN, 33° 36VE). The northernmost known breeding ground in the Russian Arctic is the island Vaigach (Lorentsen, Tatarinkova in: Anker-Nilssen et al. 2000).
Larus heuglini. All of the following observations concern adult birds and were made in the Severnaya Zemlya area in 2005: eight on 3 August in the Wilkitzki Strait (77°46 VN, 105°31VE); one on 17 August in the Sho-kalski Strait (78°52VN, 100°19VE) and 1+1 on 18 August south-eastern Kara Sea (76°37VN, 98°31VE). Heuglin's gull has only recently been declared a species of its own (Barthel, Helbig 2005; Bauer et al. 2005; Mal-ling Olsen, Larsson 2004). Previously, it was regarded a sub species of the L. argentatus or L. fuscus. The bird breeds on the islands in the Kara Sea such as Izvestiy or Sverdrup (Syroechkovski, Lappo 1994) and is recorded as occasional breeder on Severnaya Zemlya (De Korte, Volkov, Gavrilo 1995). Regarding high numbers of this species in the Wilkitski Strait see Bakken & Gavrilo (1995).
Larus hyperboreus. We observed this species on a daily basis in variable numbers on the Barents Sea, and it was less abundant in the Kara Sea. It is regarded as breeder (common but not numerous) on Sever-naya Zemlya (De Korte, Volkov, Gavrilo 1995). We saw up to 40 breeding pairs at Rubini Rock (2003-2005) with 4 juveniles already a week old on 17 July 2005, and 20-25 pairs at Cape Tegetthoff (2003-2005). In 2005 15
birds were seen at the north east coast of McClintock Island. A total 500 breeding pairs is estimated for the entire archipelago (Bakken, Tertitski in: Anker-Nilssen et al. 2000).
Larus marinus. On 17 July 2003, when laying with engines stopped in the ice off Cape Heller, Wilczek Land, we saw two adult great black-backed gulls standing on the ice about 150 m behind the ship. Due to the significant difference in size we presume they were a pair. We watched them for a while and are familiar with the species as it is very common in northern Germany. Due to the birds' size and leg colour that we observed while the birds rested on the ice we excluded other gulls, in particular L. heuglini. Two days later, on 19 July, another adult L. marinus was standing at the edge of the ice at a space of open water at Cape Tegetthoff, Hall Island. Parovshchikov (1962) and Dement'ev & Gladkov (1951c) refer to records of L. marinus in connection with Franz Josef Land, however without any details or references. Consequently all recent lists on the birds of the archipelago quote previous observations as questionable (W^slawski, Stempniewicz in: Barr 1995; Gavrilo et. al. 1993; Uspenskiy, Tomkovic 1987). The list of Pleshak (2003) does not include L. marinus at all. The great black-backed gull is a new species for Franz Josef Land. This observation was however not unexpected as the populations of L. marinus in the Barents Sea in general (Lorentsen, Tatarinkova in: Anker-Nilssen et al. 2000) and on Svalbard in particular (Strom in: Kovacs 2005) have increased since 1960 and again since the mid 1980s.
In 2004 we observed no great black-backed gulls and Dieter Joern made the following two observations in 2005, but not on Franz Josef Land: 15 July one third year individual in the central Barents Sea approximately 400 km away from the nearest coast (73°42VN, 39°30VE), roosting on the ship; one adult and one immature bird on 4 August in the southern Kara Sea between Sverdrup Island and Taimyr Island (75° 20VN, 86°08VE). Observations so far to the east are scarce. Neither Il'icev & Zubakin (1990) nor De Korte, Volkov & Gavrilo (1995), Novak & Pavlov (1995) or Decker et al. (1998) mention this species with respect to the eastern Kara Sea, Severnaya Zemlya or the Taimyr Peninsula. Only the list of Syroechkovski & Lappo (1994) includes one bird from the Izvestiy Tsik Islands (75°55 VN, 83°00VE).
Sterna paradisaea. In 2003 we saw 2 arctic terns near Alger Island, one at Cape Tegetthoff, one flying over the ice at Cape Heller and 2 birds at Bell Island. In 2004 a total of 44 birds were seen on drifting ice close to Victoria Island on 1 August. On Franz Josef Land, between 3 and 7 August 2004 2 birds were seen at Jackson Island, 3 at Cape Heller, one at Wilczek Land and 2 terns at Bell Island. In 2005 and only on 19 July we observed the following on the archipelago: 4 on Appolonov Island, 1 at Cape Heller and 1 on Wilczek Land. Franz Josef Land hosts a few small
colonies with 200-300 pairs in total (Uspenskiy, Tomkovic 1987). Outside of Franz Josef Land, Dieter Joern made the following observations: 30 July 6 + 4 towards the southeast, close to Vize Island; 3 August 2 in the western Laptev Sea (78°11VN, 109°09VE); 13 August 3 on north-eastern coast of Novaya Zemlya (close to 77°N, 70°E); 28 July in Inostrantseva Bay on the northern tip of Novaya Zemlya one colony; 30 July 6 birds flying in south-westerly direction near Vize Island (79°12VN, 76°00VE). The arctic tern is an occasional breeder on Severnaya Zemlya (De Korte, Volkov, Gavrilo 1995).
Uria lomvia. We saw this bird almost daily in all three years, but we are not able to give more detailed information. Our estimates are substantiated only for Rubini Rock and add up to 5.000 birds. Our stays at the bird cliffs were too short to provide greater detail. We observed the northernmost birds in the archipelago at Appolonov Island (81°11VN, 58° 04VE) on 9 August 2005. Presumably Franz Josef Land hosts 25.000-50.000 breeding pairs (Bakken, Pokrovskaya in: Anker-Nilssen et al. 2000; Gavrilo et. al. 1993). Recent estimates indicate 1.3 million individuals for Novaya Zemlya (Bakken, Pokrovskaya in: Anker-Nilssen et al. 2000) and 850.000 pairs for Svalbard (Strom in: Kovacs 2005). On Severnaya Zemlya U. lomvia is a rare vagrant (De Korte, Volkov, Gavrilo 1995). None were seen here.
Cepphus grylle. We observed individuals of this species almost daily in the Franz Josef Land archipelago in all three years, however only in small groups so more specific details cannot be given. The breeding population is estimated to include 3.000-4.000 pairs (Gavrilo et. al. 1993) with the largest colonies showing about 500 pairs at each of George and Bell Islands (Lorentzen, Pokrovskaya in: Anker-Nilssen et al. 2000). C. grylle is also a common breeder at Severnaya Zemlya (De Korte, Volkov, Gavrilo, 1995). Dieter Joern observed only one bird there in the northern part on 1 August (81°19VN, 96°26VE) and two on 17 August 2005 in Shokalski Strait (78°52VN, 100°19 VE).
Alle alle polaris. We observed these birds daily in the Franz Josef Land waters in all three years. We cannot provide more precise details due to the short length of our visits at the bird rocks and cliffs. However on 19 July 2003 at Cape Tegetthoff we counted 400 birds circling in the perfectly blue skies over Hall Island. On 6 August 2004 and 17 July 2005, a flock of several thousand little auks was seen flying over Tikhaya Bay in the vicinity of Rubini Rock on Hooker Island, a well known colony for which 5.000 individuals were estimated already by Demme (1934) and 2.000 pairs by Skakuj (1992). Also on 17 July 2005 several hundred individuals were flying over Cape Norway on Jackson Island, a colony for which Uspenskij (1972) estimated 50.000 individuals. A. alle is the most numerous breeding bird of Franz Josef Land (Hagemeijer, Blair 1997;
Isaksen, Gavrilo in: Anker-Nilssen et al. 2000) and has a total population of 250.000 pairs distributed among the currently known 62 colonies, although none of them are found on the eastern part of the archipelago. Whereas the bird is a locally abundant breeder on Severnaya Zemlya (De Korte, Volkov, Gavrilo 1995), we saw none to the east of Novaya Zemlya.
Franz Josef Land and possibly Novaya Zemlya are home to the subspecies A. a. polaris, which is larger than A. a. alle (Glutz 1982).
Fratercula arctica. In 2003 we observed no puffins other than birds near Bear Island and Spitzbergen. On 31 July 2004 and 2 August 2005, respectively, we spotted 1 and 3 birds flying in front of the ship in the south central Barents Sea (72°36VN, 32°36VE in 2004 and 72°13VN, 34° 16VE in 2005). There are a few hundred pairs breeding at the west coast of Novaya Zemlya (Bakken 2000) and an estimated 10.000 pairs on Svalbard (Strom in: Kovacs 2005) but no breeding is recorded for Franz Josef Land. Only two records exist: On 16 August 1982 a puffin flew near Cape Flora (Gjertz, Morkved 1993). Pleshak (2003) observed two pairs on 24 August 2001 in the middle part of the British Channel. He quotes Kalyakin (1993) who presumes breeding possible. The species does not occur in the Kara Sea at all.
We did not see the common guillemot Uria aalge or the razorbill Alca torda in either year.
Plectrophenax nivalis. The following observations refer to Franz Josef Land: in 2003 two pairs on 17 July on Champ Island, one with a fledged juvenile; 1-2 pairs at Cape Heller; 3 pairs at Cape Tegetthoff; 2-3 pairs at Tichaya station on Hooker Island and 1-2 pairs with fledged juvenile birds on Cape Flora, Northbrook Island. Despite the heavy ice conditions, breeding seemed within the known range with eggs laid at end of June (Glutz 1997), however a full clutch was found as early as 12 June (Dement'ev, Gladkov 1954).
In 2004 we made only three observations between 3 and 7 August: one female at Rudolf Island, a family with 2-3 fledged juveniles at Cape Tegetthoff and 5 + 4 + 3 individuals at Cape Flora. On 6 July 2005 one pair and two males were on Wilczek Island, where juveniles could be heard in the nest, and 5 birds and 2 relatively large juveniles were seen at Cape Tegetthoff. Between 17 and 22 July we saw one bird at each of Rubini Rock, Jackson Island and Bell Island. The breeding population of Franz Josef Land is estimated to include 100 pairs (Wçslawski, Stempniewicz in: Barr 1995). On Severnaya Zemlya, where the bird is considered a common breeder (De Korte, Volkov, Gavrilo 1995), Dieter Joern spotted only one bird, on 17 August 2005 at the south-west coast. We observed no other Passerine species during any of our voyages.
Conclusion
While most of the observations made reflect the known status of the birds seen during our voyages, some records are noteworthy. This includes in particular the first records for the yellow-billed diver Gavia adamsii and great black-backed gull Larus marinus for Franz Josef Land. Furthermore, for some species such as the great skua Catharacta skua or the ivory gull Pagophila eburnea interesting new records could be added to the known distribution patterns. Some rare observations were made with respect to the Barents Sea (e.g. Accipiter gentilis) and Severnaya Zemlya (Xema sabini). Last but not least some new breeding records could be added to the list of common species such as the black-legged kittiwake Rissa tridactyla. Genereally speaking, we trust that our observation add to the knowledge on the species of the Russian high arctic and by doing so help to protect this unique area.
Acknowledgements
We are deeply indebted to a number of people without whom neither our journeys nor this article would have been accomplished. To name some means to omit others. Nevertheless we would like to express our deep thanks to Maria Gavrilo, Arctic & Antarctic Research Institute, who did not only help us to have this article placed and printed, provided literature and the Russian summary but who also reviewed the manuscript and gave essential input. Furthermore, we are just as thankful to Pavel Tomkovic, Zoological Museum University of Moscow, who provided not only literature but very useful additional information. We would like to thank Poseidon Arctic Voyages, Moscow, in particular its Cruise Director Alexey Mironov, for their friendship and giving us the opportunity to work as lecturers on board the Kapitan Dranitsyn and the Yamal. For most valuable and reliable translations from Russian into English and German we are grateful to Katerina Petrova as well as Peggy Müller-Gelhausen and to Claire A. Dumas for checking and improving the English. Magnus Forsberg was so kind to provide us with the list of his observations made on the second voyage to Severnaya Zemlya in 2005. Thomas Müller-Lupp contributed the map used in this article. Last but not least we would like to thank our friend Norbert Schmell who was with us in 2003 and made a number of observations referred to in this article.
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Group, Institute of Oceanology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Gdansk. Zöckler C. 1997. Im sibirischen Brutgebiet von Schwalbenmöwe Larus sabini und Rosenmöwe Rhodostethia rosea // Limicola 11: 121-133.
Орнитологические наблюдения в Карском и Баренцевом морях в летние сезоны 2003, 2004 и 2005 годов
и
Стефан Лунк, Дитер Иоерн
Представлены результаты орнитологических наблюдений в ходе туристических рейсов российских ледоколов «Ямал» и «Капитан Дра-ницын» во второй половине летних сезонов 2003, 2004 и 2005 годов. Маршруты судов проходили в районе островов и архипелагов Западного сектора Арктики: Шпицбергена, Земли Франца-Иосифа и Северной Земли, островов Медвежий, Виктория, Визе, а также вдоль материкового побережья и островов юга Карского моря. Основное внимание уделяли наблюдениям за птицами в районе Земли Франца-Иосифа и в Карском море. В отличие от района архипелага Шпицберген и острова Медвежий, эти труднодоступные районы российской Арктики очень редко посещаются орнитологами, поэтому сведения об их орнитофауне очень скудны.
Годы наблюдений отличались по погодным и ледовым условиям. В 2003 г. в районе исследований наблюдалась особенно тяжёлая ледовая обстановка, и дрейфующий лёд наблюдался в июле так далеко к югу, как, например, у острова Медвежий. В 2004 г. льда в районе Земли
Франца-Иосифа было, напротив, очень мало, а лето 2005 г. характеризовалось промежуточными условиями в этом отношении, но было много тумана, что затрудняло наблюдения.
Всего за время наблюдений удалось зарегистрировать 31 вид птиц. По ряду видов получены сведения лишь общего характера, подтверждающие предшествующие наблюдения, вместе с тем были встречи редких видов и видов за пределами их обычных ареалов. Наибольший интерес представляет наблюдение белоклювой гагары Gavia adamsii на севере Земли Франца-Иосифа - это первая регистрация вида на архипелаге. Встречи большого поморника Catharacta skua в центре Карского моря и на самом севере Новой Земли (возможное гнездование) подтверждают его статус, как вида, распространяющегося на восток. Аналогично можно интерпретировать и встречи в 2003 и 2004 годах на Земле Франца-Иосифа крайне редкой для архипелага белощёкой казарки Branta leucopsis. В 2003 г. на Земле Франца-Иосифа впервые достоверно зарегистрирована морская чайка Larus marinus. На острове Виктория, где в 1990-х наблюдалась крупная гнездовая колония белой чайки Pagophila eburnea, в 2004 г. встречена стая в 240 особей. Вилохвостая Xema sabini и розовая Rhodostethia rosea чайки, известные своими послегнездовыми кочёвками в арктических морях, отмечены на Северной Земле (вторая регистрация вида на архипелаге), а P. eburnea также в центральной части Карского моря. Серебристая чайка Larus argentatus отмечалась широко у южных берегов Баренцева моря, самая северная регистрация - в центре акватории на 75°25' с.ш., 33°36' в.д., а западносибирская L. heuglini встречалась в Карском море на север до пролива Шокальского в архипелаге Северная Земля. Из наблюдавшихся куликов интерес представляют встречи круглоносых плавунчиков Phalaropus lobatus на севере Новой Земли и плосконосых плавунчиков Ph. fulicarius на Северной Земле (вторая регистрация вида на архипелаге), а также обнаружение острохвостых песочников Calidris acuminata в смешанной стае с другими видами песочников на Северо-Западном Таймыре. В открытом океане по пути на Северный полюс птицы наблюдались крайне редко, наиболее северная регистрация на 80°47' с.ш., 39°09' в.д. относится к глупышу Fulmarus glacialis в 2005 году.
Несмотря на попутный характер наблюдений, получен ценный материал по орнитофауне малоизученных островов российской Арктики и акватории Карского моря. Работа представляет собой прекрасный пример вклада экологического туризма в изучение труднодоступных арктических районов.
