Alaska field notes, v4469

Verbeek, Nicolaas A. M.
1966
Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, University of California, Berkeley
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Image from the Biodiversity Heritage Library. Contributed by Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, University of California, Berkeley. | www.biodiversitylibrary.org

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Verbeek, N. A. M. 1966 Alaska Catalog: #143 - 158 Journal Census Plot Data Species Accounts
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Verbeek, N. A. M. 1966 Alaska Catalog: #143 - 158
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AM Verbeck 1966 Catalogue. I Alaska, Barrow Area. 143. Alopex lagopus 22 June 1966 Alaska, W. shore of Iknawik, 5 Mi S. of Barrow skull (pick up) Discarded √N 144. Phalaropus fulicarius sex? 22 June 1966 Alaska, Footprint lake, 3 Mi. SE. of Barrow wt 54.5 g., Skin in winter plumage; legs blen-gray, bill yellow at base. skin saved. √N 145 Calidris alba sex? Downy. 12 July 1966 Alaska, Barrow, 3/4 Mi. SSE of ARh. wt 6.75 g., sex?; Taken from nest 12 July 1966 at 17:00. There were 3 young in the nest, and one piped egg. Took two young out, one to MIZ, one for Paul de Benedictis for U. of Michigan. Young hatched between 10:15 July 11 and 17:00 July 12. This young killed at 18:00. √N 146 Arenaria interpres ♀ Downy 13 July 1966 Alaska, Barrow, 3/4 Mi. SSE of ARh wt 9.25 ; Ovary axi; <1 day old, found dead in nest √N 147 Calidris canutus ♂ Downy 13 July 1966 Alaska, Barrow, ± 500 m SSE of ARh. wt 13.5, testes 1 x .5, R 1 x .5, ± 1-2 days old, yolk in abdomen
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M Verbeek 1966 Catalogue 2 148 Mallophaga of Stercorarius parasiticus 18 July 1966 Alaska, Barrow √N 149 Calidris bairdii ♂ Downy 19 July 1966 Alaska, Barrow. One of three downy young. <2 days old. Yolk sack present. Nest mate of 150, 151 7 g, testes L. 1.0 x .5 √N 150 Calidris bairdii ♀ Downy 19 July 1966 Alaska, Barrow. One of three downy young <2 days old Yolk sack still present. Nest mate of 149, 151 wt 6.5 g. √N 151 Calidris bairdii ♀ Downy 19 July 1966 Alaska, Barrow. One of three downy young <2 days old Yolk sack still present. Nest mate of 149, 150. wt 6 g. 152 Calidris bairdii 4 Embryos 20 July 1966 Alaska, Barrow. Embryos 19-20 days old, taken from the egg. Two of the eggs were pipped. Eggs collected 2 days after both parents were shot. Unpipped eggs weighed 7.9 x 8.4g ; pipped egg, weighed 8.4 x 8.2g. discard 153 Limnodromus scolopaceus ♂ Downy 26 July 1966 Meade River, 60 Mi. S of Barrow.
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AM Verbeek 1966 Catalogue 3 wt 11.25g, testes L 1.5 x 1, <2 days old, yolk sack still present. Alaska, Cape Thompson. √ 154 Ulria lomvia ♀ 8 Aug 1966 Alaska, Cape Thompson, Found dead on beach near second colony. wt 1050g; Ovary 14x9. Very fat. Broodpatch present. Alaska, Barrow 155 Mallophaga of Calidris possilllos ♀ 16 Aug 1966 Alaska, Barrow. √ 156 Meade River, Alaska. 156 Sterna paradisaea ♂ 29 July 1966 Alaska, Meade River wt 88.4g, testes L 5x3, R 3x2 Alaska, Barrow 157 Mallophaga (5) and one feather mite. 31 Aug 1966 found on Calidris alpina immature 158 Cepphus grylle 3 Sept 1966 Alaska, Point Barrow, near old village of Nuvuk. Nest in oil drum. Deserted. Egg collected 3 Sept 1966. Nest first found 14 Aug.
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Verbeek, N. A. M. 1966 Alaska Journal
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A.N. Verbeek 1966 Journal 1 Point Barrow, Alaska June 3 Snow buntings are display-ing around the buildings. I also saw a flock of ± 50 Glanous Gulls just on the edge of the camp. Apparently they stick around all summer and do not seem to breed, although 95% of the are adult birds. Among the gulls I saw some 10-12 Buddy Turnstones. After lunch Steve Maclean and I went in a Weasel out into the tundra east of camp to check the progress of snow melt. The top of the ridge running along the marsh was emerging from underneath the snow. The vegetation, mainly lichen ad grasses was quite dead. On the exposed patches I saw my first Lapland Longspurs and there were also 2-3 pairs of Red-backed Sandpipers, the first of the season. One male went repeatedly thru his flight display, a strange gurgling sound which comes in two phases, one at a lower pitch than the other. While we climbed back to the Weasel a single Pomarine Jaeger flew over, and continued due NE. The whole day long I have seen large flocks of King Eiders, flying rapidly close over land and the frozen sea. Steve picked one up, a male, last night. The beast apparently flew against a telephone wire. This seems to happen more often. June 4. It was cloudy and gloomy in the morning but towards noon the sky began to break and in the afternoon it was a beautiful warm day. Steve figured it could have been the warmest day on record.
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Barrow Study Area N Chuckchi Sea Buck Camp North Salt lagoon Imikpuk DewLine Site Brant Point ARL Drum Area Honey Bucket lagoon Micro Met FAA Station Britton Area Lake eater Area Voth Area Central Marsh Beach Ridge North Meadow lake South Meadow lake Gas Line Ridge Holmes Morass CRREL CABIN CRREL DAM Wohlschlag Slough Ikpuk Slough Elison lagoon Triangular Marker
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NAM Verleek 1966 Journal 2 In the afternoon Steve and I went out to check the ridges around the marsh. We saw the same number of Red backs (about 10 birds (70?)) as yesterday. The exposed areas had doubled in size, but the Red backs did not yet respond. It looked like there were more hayland longspurs than yesterday and males were actively display flying as well as defending territories. King Eiders we saw few off. There were two flocks flying north and two flocks flying south. One of the latter consisted of two females and about 25 males. Yesterday we saw a string of 9 males flying south. Apparently these males are finished with the breeding season and are heading south again (?) While on the tundra I noticed the first catkins of a willow, about 1½ cm above the ground. The female post was only 3cm under the surface. These catkins were probably exposed of snow some few days ago, which shows the fantastic response to the summer's heat. Sonderling At 23:00 I saw 9 Semi-palmated Sandpipers along the beach feeding on the sand dunes. There were also three Puddy Turnstones there. We saw no Golden Plovers today. Yesterday we saw two males on two separate occasions. One of them went into the slow wiggly-beat flight display which goes accompanied by a single repeated call. June 5 Got up at 07:00 and had breakfast with John Dawson. The rest of the camp was still very much asleep after last night's shin-dig in Bannow. We spent the morning
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J. Verbeek 1966 Journal 3 Cleaning out the lab. Since we had not signed out a snow-cat we did not go out to the field today. I made a couple of small hiking trip around the camp. Behind our camp I noticed the remains of a whale on which the Glaucous gulls are feeding. We have had the same species of birds as yesterday and in about equal numbers. Saw a flight of old squaws (6) this evening. The weather was good today. Sunny - the morning with a fringe of fog developing around the horizon all around us in the afternoon. At present 22:30 the fog is still present. I noted today that the front feet of the big male wolf in the pen can be folded back, the jaws that is, so that the toes bead touch the heels. I never saw this on a domestic dog. It may be the result of having been raised in a cage or possibly it is the result of some dietary difference. June 6. We are completely fogged in today and there is a cold E wind. At 09:00 we left for the field. At First to Beach ridge where we heard the first Semipalmated Sandpipers. Then we crossed back and forth across Central Marsh to Pitelee's Plots and from there with a wide swing south-west went to Voths though were we shot three Redbacks. The sandpipers appeared to have moved in during the last 24 hours. Baird's, Semipalmated and Redbacks were all displaying on the wing, producing their typical variations of a frog like call
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Art Verbeek 1966 Journal 4 Although the pattern of snow melt, starting at first on the exposed ridges, frost hummocks ad polygons is the same as - the alpine tundra, there is already one striking difference is the abundance of species. In the alpine you are dealing with three passerine species - larks, pipit ad Nosyphila, whom are represented here by the drumming ad the longspur. In addition we saw five species of shorebird on the exposed places. It will be interesting to see how they are going to divide the area ad how they are what preferences they will show as to breeding sites. We found two nest scrages. Apparently this is part of the pre-nesting behavior. They will make several of these test scrages before the first eggs are laid. Between 16:30 ad 17:45 Steve ad I went to Beach Ridge to get some date or feeding. The shore birds were almost absent i contrast to this morning. It was very cold with a still breeze from the east. We saw a pair of Baird's ad a single Red back. Saw the first queen leaves of a Potentilla today amidst a cluster of last years dead leaves. 7 June. Went out into the field between 8:15 ad 11:00. In the Drum area (DA) - there were a pair of Redbacks and a pair of Baird Sandpipers. I then continued to Beach Ridge where I saw one pair of Bairds and a pair of Red backs as well as two pair of longspurs. The Red backs ad Bairds often fed in the same places, rather close together and I could not see any difference between their
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AM Verbeek 1966 Journal 5 feeding habits. It seems to me Bairds walks over snow more than Red backs do. After lunch, while Pitelka went to Mead River to see Paul, Steve and I went by wessel to Voth Slough and Cake Eater area to get some more feeding data. There was an invasion of Red backs - a flock of 17 and some separate pairs, all together about 30 birds on the exposed areas at Voth Slough near where it enters the lake. These birds have recently moved in - within last day and were moving about - a loose flock. Within the flock there was some chasing. It may be that these were birds that have been here a few days. At Cake Eater I again noticed a flock of about 12 Red Backs flying around. There were also several pairs feeding. When disturbed by me, the birds would fly off and they were then after joined by others and after some soaring back and forth they would settle again. There was one single Baird Sandpiper. No other shorebirds around. Longspurs were as dense as yesterday and they were very quiet. After supper the three of us went out to the Voth area where Pitelka & Maclean took some core samples. I got 3 more feeding observations. The movement of more Red backs into the area continued this day. There was a flock of some 40 birds. I also saw a pair of Semipalmated and a Peotoral flew over. We had the same cold E wind as yesterday and there was this little snow melt today.
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H Verbeek 1966 Journal 6 8 June It turned out to be a fine day today. The fog lifted toward 09:00 and from there one we had slim shine all day. The wind was still from the NE. This morning I went out to the Beach Ridge - saw two Red Backs and a Semipal there. More Potentilla coming out. From there I went S.W. to the South end of Honey Bucket lake. There is a large disturbed area there, with standing water and mountains of "loam" like substance. I found a pair of Pectoral Sandpipers there and a pair of Semipals. On the way home I noticed a Snow Goose standing by itself in the meadows. I got home at 12:45. In the afternoon Pitella went to his study plot so I went along and while he checked his tray sites I went to the south and then curved eastward along Wohlschlag Slough. Hang areas had opened up there and there were quite a few sandpipers, (mainly Red Backs). Also saw Pintail and a Pomarine Jaeger there. Pitella came to get me and together we went to his study area where he had noticed an Orange or Wailer. I did not take long and we saw it again. It turned out to be a female of last season. Her stomach contained many spiders, sticks and a beetle. On our way home we saw a Red fox running across the snow. We chased it in our weasel till it reached the end of the Central Marsh where it sat down exhausted on the shore. Apparently it had a den in the shore, and since there may be pups we did not investigate more closely. The fox had a beautiful fellt and a thick round tail.
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J.M. Verbeek 1966 Journal 7 9 June It was a misty morning and a solid over cast for the rest of the day. The wind kept blowing from the east, as it has for the past three days. After breakfast I went for clean cloth and then at about 08:30 set out for a hike along the Winnigan Trail to where it hits the Beach Ridge. There were only two Red- backs along this trail and one Semipal. Beach Ridge only produced two bands and 3 pairs of hongspurs. The weather is so poor that the birds are mainly occupied with feeding. I saw no displays of sand pipers like I saw a few days ago when the sun was shining. Pitelka shot a Semipal today which had 4 nymphed follicles indicating that some birds are laying. From Beach Ridge I went cross country to the South East end of Honey Bucket and proceeded along the east side slowly going back to camp. There were some Golden Plover here, as well as some Turnstones and a Sandpiper. This shoreline has extensive areas of a clay like soil - without grass cover. Turnstones seem to like it. I also saw them on the S.W. side of the lake yesterday on the same sort of substrate. In the afternoon, toward 15:00 we went out to Foot Print Lake where Pitelka and Steve shot some Red backs and hongspurs. I collected some more feeding data. I am beginning to wonder, if this weather keeps up, where the birds are finding their food. There are only so many bare patches and a good many, especially the small ones, must have been searched over pretty well. Then I wonder to what extent some species are forced to feed in places where they would normally not feed if given a better choice
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A.M. Verbeek 1966 Journal 8 The Golden Plover and the Red backs are upland birds and they fit well into the present picture, since the first places to open up are the upland formations, such as ridges, and polygons. The Semipal seems to prefer more moist conditions, yet at times I find them feeding in "dry" places, where they seem to be out of place, at least so it seems to me. 10 June Earlier this morning, before 08:00 the sun made feeble attempts to get thru the clouds. By about 09:00 it began to rain, not hard but steadily. There was very little wind. All in all a nice morning which should melt a lot of snow. On my way out to the Voth area I thought I heard a Pipit and while walking to the spot where I thought it landed I noticed a flycatcher which turned out to be a Western Wood Pewee. I went back to the lab to get a gun and to warn Steve ad Pitelka. By the time the latter ad I arrived at the place where I last saw it, the bird was gone. I checked the east side of Cany but did not relocate the bird. I then went to Honey Bucket Hagoon to make some feeding observations on shore birds. There were many Red backs, one Pectoral O, a pair of White Rump, one Semipal, and twice a single Bandits. I also saw two Hoary Redgolds there and two nests of the longspur. Overhead I saw a flight of 6 King Eiders and (28,49) ad way in the distance to the East a flock of some 80 birds. These latter may not have been eiders as they were way too far away to identify. This afternoon we took off for Elson Hagoon, but first we went to see the fox den. There was no sign of the fox, so Steve
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NAM Verbeek 1966 Journal q walked over to the den and looked into it. After he had made some moves at the entrance the fox came out at the other end and ran down the Beach Ridge, pausing once in a while to look back. On Pitelka's Plot we stopped and took some pictures of the tundra, which is still very much snow covered (99%). There were no displaying Shorebirds to be heard or seen. The land- scape was particularly dismal and empty for as far as you could see. It also rained softly and there was plenty of fog along the horizon. We continued to the shore of Elson Lagoon where there was quite a bit of open ground. Pitelka went to the S. to collect some more g longspurs, while Steve and I went N. to get some feeding observations. We saw Pectorals (pair), White-Breasted (pairs), About 20 Red Phalaropes - two flocks, and Red-backed Turnstones. Overhead there were Pintail and Spectacled Eider (?). The tundra plants were beginning to grow. I saw some rosettes of what looked like one or more species of Saxifraga. Underneath one lemming nest, which I kicked off the ground, I noticed the green grass, showing the effect of increased temperatures underneath this nest. In the evening Pitelka and I went for a walk from 21:00 to 23:45 along the Honey Bucket Road. There was a lot of Shorebird activity, with Golden Plover, Banded, Semipalmated, Red-backed and Turnstone performing aerial displays.
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Verbeek 1966. Journal 10 11 June Got up rather late after a long night and very warm sleeping conditions and very dry air in the dormitory. I was just in time for breakfast and I left for the field shortly time-after at about 8:20. It rained at that time but it was almost windstill and very foggy. I went down to the Voth Area to get some more feeding observations. In the afternoon we all went to Pitelka's plot and from there Steve and I meandered along Woelschlag Slough and back up along Elson Lagoon. Aside from some observations we made on a pair of Bards there were only Redbacks and a few Turnstones. We heard many groups of Old Squaw coming over, but could not see them because of the fog. It is a good year for waterfowl apparently. Each day we see flocks of various species - Brant, White Pouts & Snow Geese, Old squaw, Ridges, Petail. In the evening we all went to Wapik Slough to collect more birds. I only got one feeding observation. There were three pairs of Redbacks along the mouth of the slough, and in all three cases I only saw the male, indicating that females were sitting on the nest. Besides the Redbacks, there was one pair of Semipals, which were shot later on. 12 June. The wind shifted to the west overnight and this resulted in a beautiful Sunny day. However, the wind remained cool. When I went into the field at 11:00 clouds were forming in the S and W. The cloud from the west covered the sky from north to south and this cloud cover slowly moved Eastward
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A H Verbeek 1966 Journal 11 till it observed the sun at about 16:45. I hiked from our lab cross country to the Beach Bridge and walked around Central marsh including Pitelka's Plo*. There were few birds except for Longspurs. On the whole length of the Beach Bridge I saw 1 pair of Red Backs, 2 pairs of Barids, 1 Golden Plover, one single Barid and one pair of Semijals. The North West part of the Beach Bridge appears to be dry for Shore bird. It is possible that dryness means absence of insects or perhaps it means that shore birds have a hard time getting their beaks in the ground. In spite of the beautiful day there was very little display flying today. In fact I think there was even less "singing" than yesterday which was weather wise a good day. The only bird I heard display flying were the Barid and the Semijal and the Golden Plover. The birds are aggressive when intruders move in on their territories, but they do not advertise their presence by display flying. Could it be that because of the bad weather the birds are in poorer physical shape? With the females on the nests (I saw only single males, territorial, and behaving such that females were on the nest) it looks like the males are through for the year (through with singing-that is). Saw the first Ranunculus nivealis in bloom today. 13-June Once again a beautiful sunny day with a cool wind from the south. In the morning I hiked over to the Britton's Area to collect feeding observations. I found a dead quill there (3 yrs old) It probably died last year and remained preserved under the snow.
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Journal 12 Yesterday sunshine and today have turned the tundra in a wet slushy mess. Water stands or runs everywhere - some times on top of the snow sometimes below it which is worse. The tundra is now about 30% open. Availability of standing water has attracted several species of ducks. At least two pair of Old Squaw, one or two pair of Steller's Eiders, several Pintail and a pair of King and Sreetacled Eiders were seen on the water, as well as some Grant Geese. In the afternoon the three of us went to the same area (Voth) Steve and Pitelka to collect some birds. I to get more feeding observations. Both Steve and I saw what must have been a couple of Knots (Calidris canutus). Steve and I got home shortly after 17:00. Today for the first time the grass is showing the beginning of growth. In places I saw blades about 2 cm long. For the rest there is little visible growth yet. Aside from the Ranunculus mivalis there are some Pedicularis plants beginning to grow, but the leaves are not spread yet, giving the plant the appearance of a hairy ball. In the evening we went to the Beach Ridge and Pitelka and I went S. of the two cabins where Weaver is doing his studies. Pitelka collected one Turnstone there. We got back by 23:00. 14 June Completed yesterday field notes and then at 10:00 I went into the area behind our laboratory along the new powerline. Found two Semigal nests there, located on the sides of hummocks. In the afternoon we went by Weasel to the North end of Pitelka's plot where Steve and I began our hike to the mouth of Wohlschlag
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Journal 13 slough. We crossed Holmes Morass at the South end. The whole Morass had on the average 20 cm of water in it, through which we waded. We crossed the Creek at the C.R.R.L. dam. The North side of Wohlschlag Slough along Elson Lagoon was pretty well drained of water, except for a few small lakes. We found quite a bit of bird activity there; this area opened early because of its elevation. We found three turnstone nest there on a rather small space. By five o'clock we crossed the marsh again back to Central Marsh. When we got home, Paul de Benedicteo was waiting for us, with some good news from Meade River. Apparently the season there is as advanced, or perhaps less so, than ours. We had a splendid, fluid, sunny day, with hardly a cloud - the sky and about 46° F. By about 20:00, however, a thick fog moved in, in a matter of two hours. Steve, Paul and I tried to get to the mouth of Wohlschlag, but we stopped at Central Bridge. Except for a single Red-back, nothing was singing there at 21:00. 5 June. left for the field at 08:30 and spent all my time in the Drum Area, which is full of Semipals. There are many territories, the location of which I know roughly, but the birds are very elusive at this stage and flush easily long before you get there. While out there Paul and I heard the flight song of the Knot. Baird Sandpipers were more conspicuous than before, which confirms observations made elsewhere by Steve and Pitella (Village Bridge).
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SAM Verbeek. 1966 Journal 14 In the afternoon Paul and Steve took the weasel and went to the Lake Cater area, while Pitikka and I went once again to the Drum Area, but this time we went all the way almost to the two yellow cabins (Weaver's). This part of the Drum Area is interesting because of its topographic variety. There were Barnich displaying all over, as well as some Phalarope (Red), one (?) pair of Turn stones and we saw a pair of Knots there. Steve saw a Curlew Sandpiper at the Lake Cater area today. When he and Paul went back to check it again, they could not find the bird. In the evening I walked again to the Drum area for a couple of hours and I found an additional Semipalmated nest (#3). Tom Custis arrived today, so that our team is now complete. The weather today was a mixture of things. It began with an overcast and some fog and little wind. The fog lifted and we had periods of diffuse sunlight. In the afternoon the wind turned to the E and this produced some rain. The afternoon was rather cold. Saw the first Pedicularis lanata blooming today. A very pretty pink spike of flowers on a densely hairy stem, ad hairs on all flower sties, giving the plant a moldy appearance. 16 June 1966 Almost missed breakfast this morning. Steve went to the Drum Area, Pitikka went to his plot and he took Paul along who went to Elson Lagoon. I, myself, went to the Button and the Lake Cater Area. On the W. side of the Road, in the polygonized area where Ishimata has his insect trap there are about 3 to 4 pair of Turn stones. From there on, staying on the West side of the
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AM Verleek 1966. Journal 15 road I saw 7 pair of Red backs. A large part of this area has just recently opened up or is standing under water, and is thus not available to the birds for nesting sites. Besides Redbacks there were Baird'sad Semipale and one Single Knot, while I believe was a female (by coloration). The East side of the road was less suitable for observation on account of road digging operations. In the afternoon, 13:00, Paul and Steve left for Mead River. I took Tom out to the drum area to give him his first look at and feel for the tundra. We found one more Semipale Nest (#4) and again heard the Knot display overhead. The grass - this area begins to grow more. In places the grass sheaths are about 2-3 cm long, but I have seen no blades yet. The Mosses are growing too and I found the first Cochlearia officinalis, a Crucifer. In the evening from 21:00 to 22:00 Pitelka and I went to the Honey Bucket Lagoon, South Salt Lagoon to see if we could find the Turnstone nests. These birds are very weary and after we had stood and watched the female for a full half our we had to give up. 17 June Stayed inside during the morning. In the afternoon Pitelka and Tom went to Nate Meadow Lake and I went along as far as Central Marsh. Walked along the Beach Ridge till the ditch and back again. From there I went to the mouth of Voth Slough. The south shore of Honey Bucket is very mud, phytoplanktonized, but has seen if any shore birds. There was only one Pair of Reddish Turnstones. Along the shore, about 1/5 of a mile
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A M Verleek 1966 Journal 16 NE of the mouth of the Slough I saw two birds, which appeared like Sandpiling, but they lacked the tanney color around the neck and head, so I thought them to be Rufous-necked Sandpipers. The male of this pair went thru a strange wrenching behavior. On my way home I noticed a pair of Peetoral Sandpipers. In the evening Ritilka and I went out to the Drum Area again where we noticed several pairs of Sandpiling. We also heard the Peetoral. 18 June. Got up early and left for the field... between Honey Bucket and South Salt Lagoon. The turnstones out there were as waxy as ever. I tried locating nests by going into an empty cabin and peeking thru the windows. I still have not found the nest, but I did put out some tentative stakes. There was little else to be seen, besides Red backs and Barnido and Semipals. I restaked three longspur nest and numbered them 1, 2, 3 with respectively 6, 5, 4 eggs. In the afternoon the three of us went to Gasline Bridge were Ritilka and Tom set two lines of trap for lemmings. By the way, saw the first two lemmings yesterday. One swam across a small puddle and a second one was on the Drum area. While the traps were being set I walked around the triangle formed by Gasline Bridge to see what birds were out there. There was one pair of Golden Plovers, who appeared to have a nest there, 3 pairs of Red Phalanges, 3 pairs of Barnido and about 7 pairs of Red backs.
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M Verbeek 1966 Journal 17 ↑N. Strangely enough there were no Seminjabs. The polygons, with all their exposed turfy top should be good habitat. The polygons in the West were occupied by Baird's. The polygons in the east ad S.E. were not occupied at all, perhaps because they appeared to be very active, giving little grass cover and too varied, altitudinally, atopography. This same type of polygon occurs on the S. side of Honey Bucket and is there too, not used by Sandpipers. I was surprised to see no Turnstones. Turnstone seems to be associated with bodies of water, even if they are yet covered with ice. 19 June It turned out to be an other beautiful sunny day. It was Sunday and I stayed - during the morning to write some letters. In the afternoon I hiked out on the drum area and I went as far as the Mouth of Votha Slough. There were the usual birds. It seems a pair of Turnstone moved into the polygons on the E side of the lagoon. There was one Pectoral, one Knot and a pair of Rintants and Steller's Gulls. One nest of the Longspurs, the very exposed one Ptiltika ad I found, was rolled of its egg. In the S.E part of the shore of the Lagoon I ran across the two Sandshrikes which we noted there before. Got some interesting observations on nesting behavior. Near the Mouth of the slough I flushed a Phalarope of his 4 eggs.
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Merleek 1966 Journal 18 When I got home around 17:00 Pitella had some good news too. The shot what looks like a hybrid between a Pectoral and a White-rump. Very exciting. After supper, at about 20:30 we went to the place where he shot it, and combed the area for a nest. The bird in question had laid three eggs and had a forth one in the oviruct. In the process of finding the nest we got side tracted by a pair of Semipals, which were subsequently shot and this brought our search for the nest to a temporary halt. We got home at 23:00. 20 June Again we were being spoiled by a beautiful sunny day with little wind. In the morning I went to the W. side of Imilepink lake which has only been opened up for 2 or 4 days. There was one Baird Sandpiper there. From there on I crossed over to the Beach Ridge where I witnessed a fight between two Bairds. There were no Redbacks on the Ridge on the stretch from the ditch to the area about ¼ mile W of Weavers cabin. One pair of Golden Plovers flew around and probably have a nest on the higher side of the slope leading from Beach Ridge to Imilepink lake. Flushed one Semipal from a nest of 4 eggs (#5) and two Longspurs each of 5 eggs (#6,7). In the afternoon we, Pitella and I, continued our search for the nest of the hybrid Pectoral-White-rump, in the Lake Eater Area, but we had no luck. In the evening I went out on the Drum area to check the Sandpiper's nest. There were one eggs yet. On my way back I saw
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A. Verbeek 1966 Journal 20 22 June During the night the weather changed completely. The wind shifted to the E. and we had a solid overcast with fog in the morning and fog in the late afternoon. Steve, Tom and I went to Ilkkaavik today. We left camp at 9:15. The first 3 miles are good (paved road) from then on it is cross-country all the way. We crossed Foot-print lake (drained) somewhere between the old and the new Gravell. The lake, though drained is still fairly marshy and we scared by a lot of Pintail. We reached the N. end of Ilkkaavik by about 10:15. The lake was still frozen except for a ice free strip along the edge. On this strip we noticed a pair of Arctic Loons. We parked the weasel about 1/4 of a mile from the N. end of the lake and began our search on foot. The plant world was in about the same state as around the camp. New grass was about one inch long in wet places. The water the new growth was about 2 inches as is the case around our camp at Barrow. There seems to be far more moss around Ilkkaavik than I have seen around our Barrow Camp site. In the way of birds I was disappointed. There was a sprinkling of Red backs and Phalaropes in about equal numbers as at Barrow. The hummocks and ridges were devoid of any Bairds and Semipalmated. I heard and saw one Baird display and we saw one Semipalmated along a small lake W. of Ilkkaavik. The hummocks may not have been of suitable for semipalmated - little exposed ground, but appeared good for Bairds. We saw quite a few Peletons, in fact, about as many as Red backs perhaps slightly less. We only saw one female though, which we
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Journal 21 Collected. Besides these aforementioned shorebirds we saw about two pairs of Golden Plovers. Also Oldsquaw; Arctic Tern, at first two, then four more; Sabine Gull at least two, and two Red-throated Loons flew over. Longspurs were as common as around our camp at Barrow. Prepared one skin in the evening (NAMU 144). 23 June. The weather took a turn for the worst today. In the morning there was some very fine frozen rain (jellets) and lots of drifting cold wind from the South. In the afternoon we had rain with strong gusts of wind. In the morning I took off for the Drum Area. Assisted by the wind I found two Baird Sandpiper nests. Because I walked into the wind, the birds were caught from behind as they too faced the wind. Each had two eggs, which confirms the fact that they were still displaying when other species were starting to incubate. Also found the nest of the single Turnstone pair at the S.E. side of Honey Bucket. Saw one Knot at the almost ¼ of a mile my Voth Slough on the E. side of the slough. On my way back I noticed the Senderling again. I made only few feeding observations today. It is becoming more difficult with half (+) the population incubating and the other half standing guard when you approach a nest. In the afternoon I went to the Voth Area. It began to drizzle (small frozen jellets) when I got to Ishimotos trap. Since it did not rain hard I kept on going, hoping the weather conditions would make it easy to find nests. By the time I
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Devick 1966 Journal 22 got to about halfway the FAA station and the Village Bridge the intermittent character of the rain changed into a steady shower accompanied by much wind. It was obvious that conditions would not prove. I got home at 16:15 with the water just reaching my skin or my back (the parka leaked along the seams and stitchings) and with soaked wet pants. While I am writing this, it still rains and the wind continues to be gusty. It is now 21:05. 24 June Fog in the morning and a strong SW wind. In the afternoon wind from the N, snow flurries and a bit of blue sky. Cold day. The Drum Area produced little data. The birds were not feeding and I saw very few of them, perhaps because of the bad weather. On my way back I flushed two Barnacle but could not find their nests. Put stakes near where I thought the nests would be. In the afternoon the three of us went to Elson lagoon. We joined the Weazel at Pitellas flat and with the wind in our backs we linked across Holmes Moss towards the lagoon, gathering feeding observations as we went. When we got to the Turnstone West we turned S. along the lagoon. By the time we started to go back to the Weazel it had begun to snow. We got home around 17:00 In the evening we went to the Whaling festival in Barnow. where I stayed till 01:00.
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M Verbeek 1966 Journal 23 25 June The weather continued to be bad, with cold winds and snow flurries intermittently. Bitter. Steve and I went to the Drum Area for about 2 hours (10:00- 11:45) to see if we could find the two Baird nests I located yesterday. I found both nests, close to the stakes I put at the approximate locations yesterday. In the process of walking from the first nest to the second we found the Sanderling nest, which I have been looking for for some time now. When we reached the end of the polygons we went back home. In the afternoon, Pitilka went to his Census Plot and I hiked from the N. end of the plot, N.E. ward till I got to the shore of Elson Lagoon near the two story yellow house. From there I went to Braint Point and from there along the Lagoon South ward till I got to the tripod marker and from there across Holmes Morass back to the Census plot. During the two hour trip I saw about 3 pair of Phalarope, one pair of Baird's (+ nest, 4 egg), one Pomarine Jaeger, 1 g Old Squaw, and a pair of Golden Plover. There were no Semipalmated and no Turnstones or Peletons. Also saw a male Steller's Eider. In the late evening I went to the area between Honey Bucket and South Salt Lagoon to feed the Turnstones. There was a lot of Shore bird activity - Semipalmated, Baird, and Red Backs. There is only one pair, perhaps a pair of Turnstones. It is certainly hard to say because they come from far away to gather here. Also saw a Semipalmated Plover and a pair of Phalaropes. 26 June The wind was still from the Chinekchi Sea, cold and moist. In the afternoon we enjoyed some periods of sunshine
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AM Verleek 1966 Journal 24 Got up late and then, after breakfast, I walked over the Drum Area for an hour to locate nests if possible. Did not find any, however. Saw 5 male pheasants behind AACS and there was also a female pintail waddling thru the grass. Got back at 13:15 ready to go on the proposed trip to the tip of the peninsula, but found the trip had been cancelled. I then left for the Britton Area and the Village Bridge. There were quite a few birds around and they all seemed occupied escorting me with much noise and caution. I again saw the Semipalmated Plover, this time near the FAA Station in company of two Turnstones, 2 Barids, 3 Semipals, 2 Golden Plovers and a pair of Redbacks. The Village Bridge produced little excitement. Saw 5 Pheasants there. I went as far as the hummocks near the crossing of Voth Slough and saw a Curlew Sandpiper there. The bird was also seen by Steve and Tom who happened to come back along the road in the Weasel. 27 June The weather turned out to be fine today with plenty of sunshine and little wind. In the morning I went with Tom to Tray lines IIIA, IIIB and started walking from there S to Voth Creek which I crossed at the polygons. Did not see the White rump which I saw there earlier. Continued on the other side of the creek and crossed it again en route to Gas line Ridge. Saw a pair of Turnstone around the Voth Creek Area. From the W end of Gas line Ridge I walked to the mouth of Voth Slough, where I found a Golden Plover nest. Along this stretch of Tundra Redbacks were the most
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M. Verbeek 1966 Journal 25 Common bird. There were few semipals and Bairds around and I saw and heard no Pectorals. From the mouth of Voth slough I walked along the lake and did not see the Sanderling pair. around the hive-Plot. Finally ended up at the AACS where I found an other Baird x Red-back nest. In the afternoon I went to the N. end of the Drum Area where I found an other Baird nest and where I took some pictures of the Sanderling on her nest. I then cut across the meadow between AACS a Microtel. where I saw an other Sanderling and a Pectoral (bloomng). Finally ended up between Beach Ridge a Imilkpuk lake. 28 June. A very poor rainy day. Stayed in all morning and afternoon. After supper I went to the field S.E. of Imilkpuk and the Beach Ridge. There were 3 Golden Plovers (2♂, 1♀), Pectorals, Semipals and Bairds x Redbacks. All birds were rather quiet except for the commotion created by my walking thru the area. 29 June. Nice warm morning with little wind. No jerks needed. Toward noon some fog. Sunshine in the afternoon and more wind. Went out with Pitekka to his census plot. Walked E. ward into Holmes Mnass for about 100 m. and the S. ward Morea len parallel with the plot. There was quite a bit of singing going on. Heard Pectoralshoot, Dowitchers yodel, there were some Redbacks; two pair of Golden Plovers, Phalarope, a d' White-Rump at CRIEL. Found a Mustela nixosa skull between CRIEL and the CRIEL
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AM Verbeek 1966 Journal 26 dam. There were two pair of Turnstone, about 750 m south of Pitelka's plot. On my way back to the weasel we picked up one Chalange nest and two Golden flowers nests, all with 4 eggs. This morning was the first day I noticed flying insects, beside Bumble bees - I was stung twice by Mosquito's. In the afternoon I saw Snow buntings behaving as if they were hawk-ing insects among a pile of drums. In the afternoon I again walked the Drum Area, where I found 3 more Baird nests. Bairds are either easy to find or they are our most common nesting shore bird this year. On our arrival Semi jabs were much more common. There are more Semi jabs on the Drum Area than I can account for in the way of nests. Semi jal males tend to be more watchful and this combined with the fact that the birds are small allows the female to walk off the nest without being noticed. Collected Ramunculus pygmaeus and Potentilla emarginata today. 30 June Misty morning till about 10:00, then clear with periods of fog starting at 14:00. Mild day. Censused Pitelka's plot in the morning from 08:30 to 11:45. Note worthy were the numerous small flocks of primarily O petrals. Saw only two birds that could scarcely be called females. The birds feed in the marsh and rest on the ridge. In the afternoon the form of us went to the Miro. Met insect trap and from there I went further on foot straight south along North & South Meadows back to the middle of Gas Mine Bridge. This stretch of my walk revealed one Red Back, one Stetter's
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Journal 27 rides, two gretals and about 7 phalaropes (5g 28'). From the center of the Gasline Ride Triangle I went W and then along the gas line and the E shore of Votta Slough. Along the Gasline Ride parallel to the gasline were three parasitic jaegers, Also one Golden Plover, 1 Redback there. Along Votta Slough one 2 Turnstone ad 1 Semipal. One the slough a pair of King Eiders and a pair of Phalaropes. Went back thru the Drum Area. Got home 17:45. Made a short trip - the evening between 20:30 and 22:00 to the Drum Area. Found two more Semipal nests there, (like this afternoon ad one this evening). Slowly I am picking them all. 1 July Foggy day with some sunshine. In the morning the three of us went to Wohlschlag Slough. We stopped at trapline X & XI so Tom could check his traps. Steve and I collected some feeding observations and we each found a Golden Plover nest. It seemed that Peetrals were not as common as yesterday. The area between Wohlschlag & Ukepik Slough was disappointing in term of birds. Most of the activity was along the S Shore of Wohlschlag Slough, where I saw a pair of Turnstones, 1 Baird, a flock of 8 Phalaropes, 2 Redbacks and a pair of Old squaws. On the Tundra itself there were only 4 phalaropes. We also saw a Redfox there (left front jaw missing) and a little fox in a den. This is the same adult who had her den at central marsh.
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Verbeek 1966 Journal 28 In the afternoon Tom went to set his trap at a Hill and Steve and I went along for the ride. We then hiked along Volta Slough in the direction of its origin. This looked like good feeding habitat, but we saw no shore birds there. We then went W toward Village Lagoon, the shore of which we followed north for about a km and then back to Tom again. Again few birds seen. On this trip we saw 3 pairs of Golden Plovers, 2 Semipalmateds, about 7 Redbacks (we flushed two birds of prey), 5-6 Eleonals, one Turnstone, and about 12 Phalaropes. Not a very dense population to put at mildly. In the evening I went to the Drumn Area and located 2 Baird nests (16,17) and one Semipalmated (10). Two Knots flew over. Obtained the fourth feeding observation today. It is becoming more difficult to get style observations because the span is getting longer. July Cloudy all day with a cold wind from the N.E. Went with Tom as far as the N End of P's plot with the intention of hiking back along the Beach Ridge and the Drumn Area. However, I remembered I had promised Steve to turn off the heater under his seal skull and I had forgotten to do so. Hiked back to the lake in a straight line, but managed to check some longspur nests and a Baird nest (#6). I only saw 2 Redbacks from the N.E. of Pitelka's Plot to where the road enters the Marsh. When I got home Tom just came back so I joined him for the Volta Area, where I disembarked at the fork in the road and where I began to hike back. Tom caught up with me at FAA. There was a little more activity than on
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Verbeek 1966 Journal 29 the Beach Ridge. There was one Turnstone scolding me, Two pair of Semipalm and a pair of Bandits. Opposite the FAA station, along the lagoon where two pair of Red-backs. Also checked two longspurs nests there. In the afternoon I went to the Drum Area where I found two more Bandit nests (18, 19) and a Red-back (11). Hiked as far as the hammocks S of Elson lagoon, which are occupied by two pairs of G. Player. Checked the Sandernberg on the way up and down. Got home at 16:10, cold, after 3½ hours in the wind. Wish the sun would shine for a chance. In the evening I said to Steve that I was going to find another Bandit nest, and so I did (#20). The A short trip from 01:10 to 01:30 produced another Semipalm nest (#11) 3 July. Strong wind from the N.E. to E. No sun all day. After last night's party, the show got underway rather late this morning. Tom went to pick up his trap from his TAT while I started to census the plot. At the N. end I found a Golder Player nest (#4) and a Redback nest (13). There was almost no Pectoral activity. Only saw 1 q. (probably saw her twice in two different places at the N. end of the plot. There was also less activity of other shorebird species. The 20th was a mild day while ever since the weather has been rather cold. The gharanop situation was like the last census. When Tom got back from checking lines XIII & XIV he lost one track of the weasel at the S. end of it's plot. We hiked back thru central marsh from the old CRREL trail straight to camp. On this
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Verbeck 1966. Journal 30 stretch I counted Dowitchers 4, Pectorals 12, Golden Plover 1, Black-bellied Plover 1, Red Phalarope 15 (one flock of 11 q included). In the evening Steve and I went to the weasel where we left behind this morning. I walked P's plot and put yellow stakes at some nests. All Redback nests were empty. Also checked Semi-pal nest S. of CRREL (#6). There were many Pectorals at the CRREL cabin (± 45 = flock). Got back home at 22:45. 4 July Wind from the NE and cloudy, clearing with sun around 11:00. Went in the morning to the Drinn Area to check Semi-pal nests and to get some more feeding observations. There has been little if any change. No eggs hatched yet, but there was one pair of Redbacks (nest unaccounted for) who acted as if they had young. Found a pile of 9 mouse traps about 100 m. N. of fire IX x X. Only two traps stuck out of the small wet sphagnum moss hummock, the others were overgrown. Could this have been a place where a jaguar nested some time ago and to which place be carried off food caught - traplines? Went to Barrow for the rest of the day. Had fun. 5 July. Got up early and biked over to The Britton Area ad the Village Bridge. Shorebird activity was poor to say the least. Breeding shorebirds - Semi-pals, Banded, Turnstone are all concentrated in the bluffs and hammocks E. W. of South Salt Lagoon. There are also some Redbacks ad a pair of G. Plovers. From there along the south shore of the lagoon, no birds, except
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Verweck 1966. Journal 31 In a few Red-backs and a flock of Pectorals. Got back in time for lunch. In the afternoon joined Steve ad Tom for a ride to the Beach Bridge E. of the USC-GS Station ad started biking NE ad the i a wide arc back to Nath Salt Lagoon. ad back to the Beach Bridge which I followed out till about halfway between Weaver & USC-GS, where I got a ride back home with the group. The meadows N. of the Beach Bridge seems good only for G.Plovers, each group of polygons & ridges has its gain. Found a G.Plover nest there (#12) ad a phalarope nest on the Beach Ridge (#6). In the evening I checked the nests on the Drum Area as far as the hammocks at tiny line IX X. Several Semi-jabs hatched today. 6 July Overcast with rain. Hardly any wind. Made another census of P's plot. It rained softly but steadily during the census. There was no marked difference from the previous trip with the exception that all Redbacks had hatched and had left the plot. Heard only one Redback, about 250 m of the plot i Holmes Marsh. Found one more phalarope (#7) nest with 4 eggs. There were only three small group of Pectorals; all appeared to be males. Tom found a nest of what he thought was a David but which turned out to be a Semi-jab. While checking the nest, we found a David's nest about 15 m away from the Semi-jab. In the afternoon I joined Tom who he went to check lines IVA, IVB and walked back home from there. Found a Pectoral
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14 Vertuee 1966 Journal 32 with two young about 200 m NE of the fork, the road i the Cakeater Area. In the Britton Area I noticed a Sandpiper. There were quite a lot of flying insects today, perhaps because there was so little wind. Also saw several bumble bees. I have never seen a bumble feed on anything yet here. Also, they are rather handy creatures, you can see them out on almost any day Saw a Red Fox between the S. end of P's plot and the CRRFL Cabin. The beast looked like a different one, from the adult we saw at the den at Wohlschlag slough. 7 July Perfectly miserable day. I think it rained all night and it continued to do so during most of the day. The sun could be seen at times, in out line, and her warmth was enough to evaporate the soil while added to the fog. I stayed inside during the morning to write some letters. In the afternoon I went to the Drum Area and the mouth of Vott Slough. Found four more nests today, bringing my total for the season up to 51 (independently found). The first phalaropes hatched today, South of Honey Bucket (#1) and On P's plot (#3). In the evening I went out with Tom & Steve to P's plot while I walked and checked for further developments. The weather brought no new birds to day yard changed little in the shore bird situation. 8 July Cloudy early in the morning, but from 10:00 on broke cloud cover and periods of sunshine We took off at 08:15 In Nunnivak Slough, about 5 M. S.of
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AM Verbeek 1966 Journal 33 Barrow. The road (first 1½ miles) ad the next mile or so is characterized by garbage and oil drums. From there on it is free of garbage, except in the occasional can. Till lunch time (½ orange each) we looked for birds, of which Red backs (in the swails) and Semipals (on the bluff) and a few phalaropes in the pools were the only shore bird representatives. On our second stop we saw a Golden Plover (+ nest) and a White-rump Sandpiper (feeding along a lake shore). The flora was much further along than at Barrow - and we saw Dryas, Astragalus, various species of Saxifraga, such as flagellaris and oppositifolia. In a small puddle on the side of a small stream I noticed a very large accumulation of Colembola. There must have been millions. Air currents set up a small whirlpool effect, so that all Colembola were found in the middle of the puddle. Steve collected them in a two x one inch vial and the vial was ¾ filled. We also saw a lot of Crane flies walking around and I caught three bumble bees, while they were feeding on Pedicularis lanata. All three of them were carrying yellow pollen. 9 July. Pleasant day with sun in the morning ad from the en periodic sunshine, wind from SW. In the morning I hiked over to P's plot to census the birds. There was very little going on indeed. One Golden Plover robbed of two eggs (human predation), one G. Plover deserted; all Longspurs had either fledged or were robbed of their young except one nest of 2 young. There were no Pectorals on the plot and I only saw one
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A.M. Verbeek 1966 Journal 34 Redback Phalaropes - saw no females and the male on the nest in Quadrant 6 still had 4 eggs. On my way home I found an other Phalarope nest about 70 m N. of the plot (4 eggs). In the afternoon, after writing notes, I went out on the Drum Area. Found new Baird nest (#28), along the road to MicroMet. I noticed some feeding Semipalmated Sandpiper and a Redback. Did not see any Peletons today. They have been on the decline ever since the 30 June, when they were everywhere. 10 July. Splendid day, with a W. wind in the morning and early afternoon, and hardly any wind from there on. Sun all day. In the morning Steve and I went to the Drum Area to photograph the Sandpiper. She was on the nest and proved to be very cooperative. We then went to the Baird nest (#1) the female of which had proven to be very cooperative a few days ago when I revisited her. We got lots of pictures of her too. In the afternoon a group of 12 (Bob Hanshaw, June Parks, Jim Gossman, Jack Campbell, Richa Nan Cocheo, John Roup, Ron) and three visiting botanists and myself went to the Point. We had to use a boat to get across the three gap in the shoreline of the lagoon. The whole way we walked on gravel of various sizes, which made walking difficult. About 2/3 of the 3½ mile walk was gravel. From there on there was some tundra, with willow, Potentilla, Draba and lots of Moss. The only birds seen on land were Snow Buntings and a single Baird. We also saw some Old squaw, King Eider and Arctic loon.
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M Verbeek 1966 Journal 35 In small bays along the shore of the lagoon we noticed many invertebrates, especially on the N. end at the deserted village (Nuvuk) There were pools filled with thousands of small (1cm) Ctenophores, small, 1-1.5" long, shrimp like beasts, arrow worm and I did not see any fishes along the shore. 11 July Rain all morning and low cloud cover with fog. Sun after 19:00 Went out to the Drum Area to check nests. The Semipals were as active as always, most of them have young. Also, the Turnstone eggs finally started hatching, about 8 days after the other 3 nests. Found a Golden Plover nest (#14) with 5 (five) eggs. There was otherwise little activity. Saw no feeding birds. Spent most of afternoon inside and the we all left for Central Marsh to pick up Steve's simple foot traps. I checked the Phalarope on B's plot and the linked along the Beach Ridge northward where Steve picked me up on the way back. In the evening I went with Tom to Gashie Ridge where he set two lines of trap while I hiked around the triangle. Along the north side I saw 3 Redbacks, 7 Pectails, 1 Turnstone, who kept following me around during the whole trip, 1 Redback, Golden Plover Pair, Golden Plover immature, 2 Phalarope; 2 Golden Plover pairs (+1 nest, #15, 4 eggs), on the South side, and 1 Golden Plover pair 8 Pectails, 6g Phalarope, 1 Redback, 45 Pectails and 1 Semipal on the West side. There were many flying insects today, especially this morning when I got stung by several mosquitoes.
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Journal 36 12 July. Cold NE wind ad overcast - the morning. Rain i the afternoon and evening. This morning I censored the plot. The activity, if possible was even less than last time. There were hardly any spars, flying over and on the plot there were the usual Red backs (just came to the plot to check my presence), the phalaropes were still on eggs; it looked like one Plover deserted its nest. There were no Peotrahs ad I saw 2 Bonids near stake 5 and a Semijal near the old (???) Road. There was a group of 6 Golden Plovers to the S of the plot. Before turning back I checked one Semijal nest along Wohlschlag Slough. Tom picked me up near the USC ags cabins. During the Lenews there were three botanist on the plot - the ditch near Stake 14. In the afternoon I went to the Drum Area for about an hour and the later on again for about an hour to photograph the male Turnstone (Buddy) near its nest with 4 young. On my way back I discovered that the Sanderling had 3 young + a pipped egg. Took two young out of the nest. In the evening I prepared a skin of one of the Sanderlings (NAMU145) 13 July. Overcast and very windy - the morning. Got up late after a long evening of work and stayed i to write a letter. In the afternoon fog rolled in but when this began to lift and the wind died down it was very pleasant. We went to the Britton Area, Steve, Tom, Jackie Campbell to get insects, while I hiked to the Village Bridge and back again along the shore of S. Salt Lagoon, where I found one Bonid Nest (#2). There were some Peotrahs beside Red backs, Bonids, Semijabs but I obtained
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M Verbeek 1966 Journal 37 very few feeding observations because of a Turnstone who kept alarming the situation. There were many Crane Flies and I got stung by several Mosquitoes. There were many Crane flies. After supper I went to the Drum Area to check Baird nests, and the Sanderling. The latter had left the nest with two young I presume. I then continued to lines IX x X where I heard young birds which appeared to be young Turnstones. On my way back I saw a Knot, a strange site, after not having seen it for so long. From the behavior of the bird it seen became apparent that it had fledglings, so I backed away and saw the female walk to the young. I found from young or that spot. Went home to notify Steve and Tom and to get my telephoto and returned to the nest with Tom. After the picture taking adventure, got some without the telephoto by crawling up to the nest on my stomach, we went back home. After a tea brake I decided to collect one of the young, so I went back and got home at 23:00. 14 July. Rain in the morning and broke cloud cover with sunshine - the afternoon. Much wind this morning and hardly any - the afternoon and evening. Spent the morning inside writing notes and preparing a downy Turnstone (NAMU 146) skin. In the afternoon all three of us went to lines IX and X. Tom picked up trap and Steve and I looked for the Knot and after we found him we took some more pictures of the chicks and the adult. Then we walked over to the tanglefoot trap at Micro Met. While Steve and Tom collected insects I checked
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ARTIVERBECK 1966 Journal 38 Some nest near North Meadow Lake. Spent some time trying to located the chicks of a White-Rimmed Sandpiper. Then after all three of us collected some more near Micro. But we took off to the other tangle foot trap near P's plot. I went along to check some Red Phalarope nests on the plot. In the evening I walked the Drum Area to check the Barnard nests. Two more nests hatched. It was a good day for Crane flies and Mosquitoes. The rain of the last few days ad weeks, coupled with some relatively warm windless days seems to have favored the biting tribe. Used mosquito repellent for the first time. Prepared the skin of the downy Knot afterwards (NAMU 147). 15 July. Sunny, mild day with little wind. Increasing cloud cover toward the evening ad more wind. Went with Tom to P's plot and while he set two trap lines I walked thru Holmes Morass to the large lake near Elson lagoon and from there S. along the lagoon and the shore of Wholschlag Slough back to the Plot. It was about two weeks ago (June 29?) that I last saw Elson lagoon and - that time a complete transformation has taken place. All the ice was gone as far as I could see, except for a few floating chunks. The water level had dropped, exposing a sandy beach. I simply could not resist to sit down and soak up the splendor of the moment and the scene, augmented by long strings of King Eider. There was little new in the shorebird situation. Most activity was centered on a small pool on the slope leading from P's plot to
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Journal 39 Holmes Marsh. At this pool was one Turnstone (scolding me), 9 Pectorals, 2 Semipalms and 2 Redbacks and Phalaropes. At the marsh itself I saw no birds, except about 6-10 Red Phalaropes. The high ground along the lagoon had a few shore birds: one pair of Golden Plovers (#3) and a Braid (#30). This is all I saw; the shore birds in the stretch from the triangular marker to the mouth of Wholschlag. Two parasitic Jaegers flew along the length of the coast and flocks of King Eider + some Common's flew low over the water toward Brant's Point, where the Eskimo's were waiting for them. Along Wholschlag Slough I found one Braid nest (#31) and I checked the Semipalms nest (#6). There were a few Phalaropes, two Redbacks, two Turnstones and 4 Golden Plovers. In the afternoon I decided to check the Golden Plover nest (#1) since it was the only one among the 15 we found so far of which we knew the age (had 3 eggs when we found it). I walked over the Dunn Area, along the S. shore of Honey Bucket to the mouth of Voth Slough and from there to near the bottom of Gas line Bridge along the gas line. Saw only one Pectoral on this trip, namely at Gasline Ridge. The plover eggs had hatched, with two downies - the nest and one outside (could not find the fourth); so the trip paid off. On my way back a large shorebird flushed while I was bent over looking at the flowers of Caltha palustris. I also collected Saxifraga cespitosa, Hieraciphila ad punctata. Tom came to get me at Gasline Ridge, after he finished setting two lines of traps in Central Marsh. There were no mosquitoes today, but I saw the same Crane fly activity as yesterday.
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Verbeek 1966 Journal 40 16 July Rain in the early morning and at odd times during the day. Periods of sunshine. Mild. Went out with Tom to census the plot, after I spent some time in the laboratory catching up on notes. There was a little more bird activity on the plot, primarily in the form of small flocks of Pecktails. None of the Plovers had hatched yet and the phalarope mean stake 5 still had 4 eggs. Noticed two Bumblebees on the plot and I collected a Senecio atropurpureus, the first one I have found bloom here. In the afternoon I went to the Drum Area to check the progress of the knots and to get some more feeding observations. Food is abundantly available, especially Crane flies are very conspicuous. On the hammocks upon find Tipula; with the majority of 9 engaged in egg laying. Pedicia, the small bluish Crane fly is found in wet places, such as moist polygon thoroughs. There are further a variety of small diptera and some flat, jumping type of beetle, which is not a true beetle. Despite of all this food upon see very few birds feeding, possibly because they do not have to make much of an effort to search and possibly because most birds have chicks and are more concerned with upon than with food. Went out in the evening from 21:00 to 21:30 to check a couple of Band nets (#8, 25) on the Drum Area. 17 July Strong cool S.W. wind and cloudy with some rain and periods of sunshine. Made the first long distance bird census today. I hope this will be continued in the future. Started at the Small
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Journal 241 near telephone pole 22 and walked from there to the USCgs station. From there to the triangular marker at Elson hagoon and then straight thru Holmes Knoss to the CRREL Wamigan. From there along Wildschlag Slough to a point where I could cross it and then straight to the N. end of Gasoline Ridge and from there drive Micro Met back to the cabin at telephone pole 22. I started at 10:50 and finished at 14:45. Total distance about 7.5 miles. At the CRREL Wamigan I took a 1/2 hour test to eat some dried-out cookies and to smoke a pipe. It rained from CRREL to the head of Gasoline Ridge, and this combined with the many lakes in this part of the Traject made it difficult to keep a straight course, especially so since my glasses fogged up half the time. It is easy to spot all the markers, but it is better to walk from the CRREL Wamigan straight to Micro Met till you are across Wild- Schlag Slough and then head towards the North end of Gasoline Ridge. I counted everything within 100 m on both sides. The number of birds seen was rather discouraging. The long stretches of marsh produced little else but Red Phalaropes. Most other birds were seen on the more extensive ridges. The most conspicuous birds today were long-tailed and Parasitic Jaegers. Snow Buntings were found around the Buildings (CRREL, Micro Met and the Cabin at Telephone Pole 22). Presence of Turnstone tends to bias your results, in that their voice attracts other birds. The high score on Red-beds from USCgs to the Beach Marker is a result of this.
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A.N. Verbeek 17 July Journal 43 I Cabin along Telephone line - USGagS. 10:50 - 11:25 Snow Bunting 3 Adult, 4 Fledglings. Semipalmated Sandpiper 2 A. Baird Sandpiper 3A Layland Longspur. 6♂, 4♀, 3T. Golden Plover 1 A Red-backed Sandpiper 1 A Long-tailed Jaeger 3A II USG ags - Beach Marker at Elson Lagoon 11:25 - 11:55 Layland Longspur 2♂, 1 Red-backed Sandpiper 16A Ruddy Turnstone 3 A Golden Plover 4 A Long-tailed Jaeger 5A Parasitic Jaeger 4 A Red Phalarope 7 A Steller's Eider 1♂ Pectoral 1♂ III Beach Marker to CRREL Cabin 11:55 - 12:30. Long-tailed Jaeger 6A Layland Longspur 2♂, 1♀ Parasitic Jaeger 13 A Snow Bunting 1 A Steller's Eider 1♀ Arctic Loon 1 A Red Phalarope 4 A Red-backed Sandpiper 2 A Golden Plover 1 A
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M Verbeek 1966. Journal 45 18 July Cool windy day with some snow flurries. In the morning I prepared my luggage for the trip to Meade River and then I left for the field, from about 09:30 to 11:00, to check the progress of the Knot. When I got back there was a letter from Pitelka in response to my letter of 10 July (?) regarding the Baird Sandpiper incubation. Steve cancelled the trip to the Meade and together we spent the rest of the day observing the Bairds. In the afternoon we watched each a nest for 3 hours continuously to see what the incubation schedule is. We then collected two birds, one which Steve had watched for three hours and an other, nearly, incubating bird. In the evening we went to Wholschlag Slough to check two other nests. I watched one nest for 3 hours. We got home at 23:30. At 00:20 I went to the Drum Area to check nest #13 and found an incubating bird on it. This bird was hatched at 00:45 and proved to be a male. 19 July Rain in the morning and early afternoon. Periodic rain from there on. No sun. Mild. Stayed inside all morning. In the afternoon I censussed the plot on Beach Ridge and then continued to check the nest (Baird 31) at the CRREL Dam. The bird live on P's plot was very poor indeed. Except for some longspurs, there was a Red Phalarope with 4 young and two Golden Plovers were still incubating. The only other species seen was Long-tailed Jaeger. In the afternoon I also went to the Drum Area and I watched Baird Sandpipers for two hours.
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H H Verbeek 1966 Journal 46 After snow again to the Drum Area, where I collected an adult Baird and 3 chicks. The adult was a male. Wrote notes till 23:45. 20 July. Again rain all day and no sun. Stayed inside in the morning and prepared three downy Baird Sandpiper chicks (149, 150 and 151). In the afternoon I went to the Drum Area to check the progress of the knot and to shoot the bird (Baird Sandpiper) of the nest (#17). The nest proved to be deserted. Hiked to the mouth of Voth Slough and back again. Except for a flock of Pectorals and Golden Plovers there was very little going on. In the evening I went with Tom and Paul to the trapline III x IV and I hiked around Voth Creek on both sides of the Creek. Saw one Pectoral (+ young), two Red Backs and a Semipalmated. Got home 21:15, wet, and ready to hit the sack. 21 July. Sun in the morning, cloudy and rainy in the afternoon. A very cold wind in the evening. Remained inside most of the day because I was supposed to fly to Meade River. In the morning I made a small excursion to the Drum Area where I collected some feeding observations. Also collected downy age Baird Sandpiper embryos. In the evening Steve and I joined Tom and while he checked his traps we hiked upstream along Voth Slough. This slough gives a good idea how a slough is formed. The erosion near
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Journal 48 Meade River, Alaska 22 July. Arrived at about 22:00. We were met by Art McKee, Jim Heritt and Roger Bernard. The first thing I noted was the striking difference in vegetation which is lush and far more varied than at Barrow. There were many plants which reminded me of the flora of the Beartooth Mountains in Wyoming. Before I retired I checked the Pectoral Sandpiper nest which Paul de Benedictis had located on his census plot. 23 July. The mosquitoes were not as bad as yesterday, when we arrived. They are at present by far the most abundant and conspicuous insect. On several occasions today we looked for insects on the ground and vegetation and except for some minute dipterans there was nothing to be seen. In the morning, it was a cloudy day, I walked upstream along the river for about 1-2 km. The vegetation again struck me as being very rich in species, the genera of which I recognized as being similar to the alpine of the Beartooths. Mints. Along the river bluff the willows grew to heights of one meter. The river had gone down considerably since the spring break-up and now showed some sand bars and extensive sandy stretches of shore line. The eskimos in the village, fishing with nets, catch both whitefish and grayling. There is a considerable amount of sand dune formation. In the afternoon Tom and I walked downstream past the village, to where the triathlons are on the flood plane of the river. While we were out there Steve arrived.
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Journal 50 The river bluff are most productive floristically but they have few shore birds. As you go inland the number of flowering species decreases, the ground becomes more moist and there are more shore birds. During a two hour hike Steve and I saw Golden Plover and Black-bellied Plover, Northern and Red Phalarope, Peetral sandpiper, very few Semipalmated Sandpipers. No Baird Sandpiper yet. We also saw quite a few Arctic loon and Red-throated Loon. After supper Roger, Steve and I hiked to a large inland lake NW of the camp. This lake has sand dunes on its northern end only as far as I could see. We found there a large number of fresh water snail "houses", of limnaea-shape. These were washed ashore and most of them were empty. The last whorl was very large compared to the others. The drawing is natural size. These must be the most northern fresh water snails. The many loons seen on these lakes could well be feeding on these snails. +July. Sunday. Broken clouds with periodic sunshine. After a late breakfast Steve, Tom and I went up river in the outboard motor boat to a point about 1½ km S of camp, where we pulled the boat ashore just beyond the sharp bend in the river. From there we walked slowly upstream, sticking close to the dbanks along the river. These banks are covered with a low growing stand of willow (Salix ), the tallest of which grow on the side of the bank and then progressively smaller as you go land inward. We caught two large
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Journa 51 bumble bees, all of which were feeding on Pedicularis capitata, this in spite of the fact that there were many other flowering plants such as Dryas, Astragalus, Saxifraga and Anemone. Further inland, on sandy ridges I saw Campanula imiflora, and in the wet boggy spots, Pyrola grandiflora, Silene Melandrium apetalum, Saxifraga We kept walking to about where the sand dunes begin. In one of these small ponds we found there, we caught small shrimp like creatures, many of which were copulating. The males had large greenish modified appendages at the anterior end with which they classed the females near the rear end. The females revealed eggs in their abdomen and they lacked the modified appendages. We collected several of them. On the dunes we saw several Arctic Ground squirrels (Citellus gerryi) and several flowering plants - Epilobium latifolium, Mertensia We got back to camp at about 16:00 and we made a snack. After writing some notes, I decided to take a map till supper time. However, when I had barely snoozed 15 minutes Tom woke us up with news about some 50 Caribou, while the Eskimos had spotted about 2 km. S. of where we had been all day. From our camp we could see the animals - as black dots. One boat with 6 Eskimos and an equal # of guns took off for the hunt. We decided to follow in our boat. We landed near where we went on land this morning and cautiously walked to the beach along the river. The 50 animals reported by Tom grew to about 300 as we saw more of them laying around chewing the end. As we went closer still it became clear that
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Journal 52 we were dealing with a far larger herd, somewhere between 2000 and 3000 animals, which were sprawled out over a distance of some 700 m. along the horizon. From our distance it was impossible to get a count of cows, bulls and calves. The many silhouettes of large antlers against the sky revealed some five large bulls. After considerable delay, the Eskimo's arrived at a flaw. Two continued upstream to get down wind from the beast and face them to walk upwind toward the waiting four guns. After a long wait the animals finally began to move, at first slowly, but after they got spooked the whole herd began to run, especially the near yard. Instead of coming to the guns they went E further into the Oxbow, with 3 guns - the N., 2 in the S. and one - the W. The first animal to go down was a bull, after while the 3 guns - the N. began to spit fire into the stampeding herd. In panic the group began to break up and individual smaller herds began to run back and forth, splashing through the swamp. The splashing and grunting filled the air with a fantastic sound. Soon you could see animals laying about and cripples walking helplessly around. Several wounded animals sought the safety of the lakes and waded or swam across them to lie down near shore. When you approached them they would enter the water again and swim to the opposite shore. After several salvos had been fired into the panic stricken herd, the animals began to escape westward, leaving behind at least 20 dead or dying behind. Four of the six hunters left for Barrow, during the hunt, leaving the work of skinning the animals over to the two remaining hunters. We gave Jim heatt a hand in skinning and carrying
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J.M. Verbeek 1966. Journal 53 ont some of the meat. Among the herd I noted a white animal which Steve thinks is a Dall Sheep because he saw horns. I think it was an allino Caribou, because it carried its tail straight up like a Caribou. We had dinner at 03:00 and went to bed very tired. 25 July Beautiful sunny day. Roger, Art, Steve, Jane and I went to the Caribou carcasses to photograph some of them and to carry out more meat. As it turned out several animals were still alive and they had to be shot or pithed. There were also two lambs, one injured (Steve shot it) and one healthy one. We again spent the whole day skinning and carrying meat. When we left late in the afternoon, +19:00, there were still some 10 animals to be carried out. I am afraid that much meat will be left - the field to not. Most of the Caribou were skinny, except for one bull, who had about 1/2 inches of fat on his buttocks. All bulls and cows still had velvet on the antlers, the tip of which were still very soft. The animal which I helped skinning had very few worlds I noted. Before turning in I checked the Pectoral nest. 26 July The fog which rolled in last night blew away by the very strong wind which blew all night. By about 10:00 the cloud cover disappeared and from then on we had fine sunny weather. In the afternoon I hiked to a large lake S. of camp. I walked all along the W shore, a 4-5 m high sandy bluff with
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Journal 54 Dyas, Anemone, Silene acarbis, Eret richium and a new plant - Delphinium brachycentrum. Of birds, I saw one Ruddy Turnstone, 5 Arctic Tern, 1 Sabine Gull, 7 Red-back Sandpiper, Nuthatch Phalarope (5), Red Phalarope (1), Pectoral Sandpiper (12), all along the shore. Along the W side and the SW end of the lake there are extensive areas of wet carrer meadows, which looked ideal for a tern colony, but was not being used as such. A good food supply may be limiting, although I saw terns picking up food from the lake surface. From this lake I hiked W till I came to an other large lake and from there back to camp again. About 1½ km. from camp I ran into a Dowitcher with young of which I took some pictures and I collected one chick as well. Got home at 19:00. After the kitchen chores, Tom and I went across the river to check a bird which according to him looked like a Bantailed Godwit, but which turned out to be a Dowitcher (Long-billed). 27 July. Fine sunny day with a good breeze which kept the mosquitoes down. Prepared the skin of the juvenile Dowitchers in the morning (NAHU 152) and I finally caught up on notes. In the afternoon I hiked toward the large lake in the W of our camp. This is the same lake where we found the fresh water smelts. The lake was quite choppy and in the middle of it I noticed 8 Arctic Terns feeding by picking food from the surface at a shallow spot, when it looked as if weeds came to the surface. I wonder if these large
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A M Verbeek 1960. Journal 55 deep lakes have any fish in them? On my way down to the lake I caught 4 large 1\2cm spiders. Two of them carried egg cases. The spiders live in a small burrow, lined with spider-web-like material and the entrance is paved too. When you move your hand over the burrow the spiders runs down, but soon comes out again. I do not think they are of much use as food for shorebirds because they are rather alert. On a small lake, SW of the large one I noticed a goodly number of ducks and some ducklings as well. By lying flat on the ground among the carex and by waving my hat above the grass, Red-throated loon, Old Squaw and Spectacled Eider females came to about 25m of me. Aside from mosquitoes there were no other insects around today. On a windy day, mosquitoes stay put on the ground and vegetation and are then easily caught I suppose. So I would not be surprised if they form a large part of the diet of the birds here. 8 July. Sunny morning, clouding over toward the afternoon. Very little wind and consequently many mosquitoes. Collected some plants in the morning and I made a water color of Byrada grandiflora. In the afternoon Tom and I looked out to the large lake W. of our camp where Tom tried to collect an Arctic Tern and where I took a bath and a swim (rather cold but refreshing). The lake was very quiet today and I saw several fish surface. This confirms my belief that the terns were fishing
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JAN VERBECK 1966 Journal 56 Here yesterday. Tom tried in vain to collect a term. On the way down from the lake I collected some feeding observations. In the evening, after supper, a group of ±350 Caribou moved by our camp, about 2 km to the south. I spent the rest of the evening to try to get to the S of them, in order to sneak up to take pictures. I got to the large lake below wind from them (I could smell them) yet they got wind of me (probably the high bluff along the lake created some strange turbulence in the wind). I managed to take one picture under very poor light conditions (1/30 sec at f2.8). Got home at 23:45. 29 July. The cirrus clouds of yesterday were heralds of a change in the weather. The sun only rarely got through the clouds. The cooler temperatures kept the mosquitoes down. In the morning the camp was in a state of disorganization because several people were moving out, back to Bannow. In the afternoon, after the dishes and my sweeping out the laboratory and the kennel house, Tom and I rowed across the river, Tom to collect a term (Arctic) and I to make a hike toward the dunes, some 5 km. down stream from our camp. On the way down I walked partway over the tundra till I came to a large marsh along the river. From there I went to the shore and continued down the tributary. The large marsh was occupied by at least a dozen Peletoals and an equal # of Arctic Terns flew above it. Also saw a female Old Squaw. Along the shore I saw tracks of a fox, probably Red Fox, and quite a few Arctic ground squirrel dens. All of these were
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Art Derbeek 1966 Journal 57 along the high water line, but below the willows. Obviously by next spring these dens will be flooded and demolished by ice. I wonder if these are young animals or perhaps animals that are pushed out of more favorable habitat? The Yellow Wagtails have almost completely lost their Muptial plumage. They are the only conspicuous bird of the willows along the river at present. In the evening we again saw several group of caribou around us. Three Eskimos went out to hunt the largest herd (+50? animals). Tom and I set a trap in hopes of catching a short-tailed Weasel that Art McKee saw near the village. 30 July Cloudy day with some fine drizzle in the morning. There was much excitement in our camp because of small groups of Caribou all around us. The Eskimo's from the village went out to hunt them. Among a group of +75 animals we saw a tremendous bull, bigger than any bull I have seen so far. All day long I heard shooting in various directions and by 18:00 small group of Glaucous Gulls scattered over the tundra betrayed the places where the caribou had been killed and skinned. From 12:30 to 14:00 I censused Paul's Plot and I was amazed at the few birds I saw. There was only one each of Pectoral, Baird and Red-backed Sandpiper and one pair of Lapland Longspurs. The Pectoral q N. of the plot was still incubating. There were no Black-bellied Plovers. Whenever needed, I pushed the stakes deeper into the ground to the
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Journal 59 permafrost, which was less than a foot deep. Art & Rogers measured thaw depth today along a transect running from the river bluffs to the lake W of camp. The depth varied from 9cm to 10cm. The 9cm was in the river bluffs and the 10cm they found in places with a deep layer of peat. Later in the afternoon I hiked to a small round lake NW of camp, where I also found snail shells on the beach. Saw a few Pectorals and Red-backs and one or two pair of Golden Plovers. The former two feed in the marshy carex swamps, surrounded by the polygon ridges, while the plovers are found on the dry bluff top and dunes. Both the censuses today and this afternoon alike make me wonder where the brids are. Except for Pectorals and Plovers, it seems that the other shorebirds have independent young, and neither old nor young seems to be around any more. 21 July Two months have passed by and where has the time gone! Sunday, today. The weather this morning was very balmy with plenty of sunshine but with clouds on the W. horizon. We had a late breakfast, and after Art & Rogers had finished changing Thermograph records, Rodger and I started out on a hike which was to lead us to the large and pretty lake S. of here. However, we got side tracked and ended up in the creek bed that enters the Meade River ± 2 km S. of Camp. I took a few photographs there and we collected some plants. The vegetation in this small valley was very lush, with Carex spp. growing knee-deep, and with a species of grass with red blades growing in the stream itself. The only bird that seemed to
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AM Verbeek 1966 Journal 60 Utilize the creek was an Arctic Tern. Both Roger and I took a picture of a long-tailed jaeger. Our walk came to an abrupt end because of a heavy shower, or better said a series of showers. On the way back we walked along the shore and there we found some fossilized wood, and fossil imprints of what looked like Equisetum stems and Cornifer leaves. We got home at about 15:15 and we were forced to stay inside till after supper, because of periodic showers. Several times we had fine rainbows at various places along the horizon. Heard thunder twice at +21:00 While Art and I were doing the dishes. Roger spotted a group of some 100 caribou heading W., South of us. They were traveling rather fast, as if something was following them. Apparently some guy is hunting them with an airplane. August We had a strong wind all night long. In the morning the sky was cloud covered. The cloud cover broke toward noon and we had some showers in the afternoon. Took off for a hike SW of camp. I tried to locate the Pectoral and found her some 100 m. from the nest with all four young. After taking some pictures of them I continued till I came back along the shore of which I noticed a complete Caribou skeleton. On the lake itself were three Arctic hares, of which I took a picture. A little beyond the lake I spotted a Caribou rack of great beauty. I could not resist to leave it there, and I carried it back to our camp (+25 km). The rest of the afternoon I spent water colouring Campanula
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M Verleek 1966 Journal 61 Uniflora. Just before supper Tom and I went by boat to the rock out crop along the shore S. of Campy to pick up some fossils which Tom had cached there. We then took the boat further upstream around the bend, but had to turn back after about 150 m because of the shallowness of the water. After supper we finally got them to ARL Barnow on our transmitter. The news was bad. We have to be ready any time to fly back to Barnow, since Paul is back from Campy Thompson. I had a very good as well as interesting time at Meade River. 2 August I wasted a whole day waiting for the plane from Barnow, which was to take us out. The plane never came! Around noon I left camp temporarily to take some pictures of a herd of 34 Caribou, which were standing on a sandbar S. of Campy. I finally walked up to them, right across the river where they were standing. Every once in a while part of the herd would run off for a little distance. This manoeuvre was to get rid of flies etc. which were visibly bothering them. At 20:00 we decided that no plane was going to come and Art, Roger and I took the boat and we went to the dunes N. of Campy along the E. shore of the River, just beyond the remains of some 7 sod huts; the remains of Athasuke. We got home at 23:00. 3 August Got up early again and made breakfast for a part of the crew and myself. By about 09:15 the ARL plane got in. Paul and Jackie Campbell got off and Tom got on. I got the word that I could stay another day and that the plane will come by tomorrow
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on its way to Cape Thompson. We stayed in till lunch time, which gave Paul and I to talk over the situation at Cape Thompson and Barron at Meade River. In the afternoon we linked to the River S. of Camp to the dunes across the narrow part of the Oxbow [illegible] and then proceeded E. along the shore, collecting flowers as we went. We found many new flowers, a.o. a Gentiana propinqua. The river was very shallow there with many sand flats and flats of a reddish brown shale like material. There were many caribou tracks along the river bank and we saw a couple of Citellus pennxi. We continued along the shore and the dunes till we were about halfway around the Oxbow and then we cut inland along the E. side of the two long lakes with run + N.S. Along the biggest lake, we found a 3 year old bull left behind after the big hunt. The gulls and jaspers had pecked out the eyes and had started in at the anus. The bones around the pelvic region and the upper end of the femur were cleared of meat. The rest of the hide was untouched. This caribou, as all caribou seem to do when they are not instantly killed, walk to a lake shore to die. Aug. A windy, partly sunny day. I stayed in most of the day, in vain waiting for the plane which never came. What a waste of time! I collected a few plants of Poa alpigena var. alpigena (the one that forms seed) and P. a. var. vivipara (the one that forms small plants instead of seeds). Apparently several arctic grasses do this. Also collected Byrdia grandiflora. Just before supper Jim and I went down river by boat to check the
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H. Berleek 1966 Journal 65 Cape Thompson, Alaska. 5 Aug. On the way down from Meade River to Cape Thompson we had to land in a narrow valley on a runway full of willow bushes and which was so short that we could not get off it. After 8 runs I suggested I get out and he, Jo Felder, try it by himself, and if successful he could land on the top of a nearby hill. After one trial run, he did barely managed to get airborne by the second. Further down the coast I had to drag three cans of coffee to a group of 4 Athabascan people, who were camped along the coast. We arrived at Thompson at 19:30, welcomed by Steve and Tom, who arrived yesterday. After supper, I liked upstream along the Ogotoruk Creek, a wide stone strewn creek, with many side channels. I went as far as Trail Creek, which drains a wide valley, mainly characterized by knee deep grass tussocks. It was here where I saw the Barr-tailed Godwits. The upper reaches of the tributaries to Ogotoruk Creek all had thick snow banks, turned to ice, some of which must be several years old, because it probably does not melt before the new snow falls in the autumn. I got home at 23:00 followed by all mosquitoes in hell. After a midnight snack and a fantabulous shower (the first in two weeks) I turned in at 24:10. 6 Aug. Got up at 08:00 in time for breakfast, prepared by the cook Fidel (a Filipino). It was overcast and we had
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Verbeek 1966 Journal 67 a strong North wind coming down the valley. In the morning I hiked over to the frost creeks along the shore - Crowbill Point and I tried to get around that point, but gave up. After observing the Thick-billed Murres and the Horned Puffins, for some time, I went back home via some hills, where I found the Arctic Ground squirrel (Citellus parryi) to be very common. In the afternoon, Tom and I and Ed Brown, the fellow who is collecting insects for the Bishop Museum in Hawaii) took a Weasel to the top of Saligvik Ridge W of Camp. From there we hiked down the frost valley to the beach, along which we walked as far as we could, rounding two places where you could get by when the waves receded, for a distance of about 3 km. The frost 1.5 km has few alcids, but from Nasorak Creek on, every ridge was occupied by either Thick-billed or Common Murres and Black-legged Kittiwakes. There were also some Tufted and Horned Puffins, as well as Black Guillemots. The latter three are not very common, but that is probably because they are hole nesters and are thus not seen. At Crowbill Point I saw several Raven, which probably nested on their very cliffs earlier in the season. On our way home we hiked up along Nasorak Creek and then cross-country back to the Weasel. The ridges and slopes of the rather gentle slopes have a lot of fellfield, with a lot of Dryas octopetala. On one of the hills, the one W of the mouth of Nasorak Creek (700 ft high) I heard and saw a Gyrfalcon. Paul de Benedichino saw two birds there
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a few days earlier In the evening Tom and I hiked along the beach E of Camp. Except for two dead Walrus and a small Bearded Seal there was nothing else that caught our special attention. 7 Aug. Pleasant sunny day, but a very strong north wind (25-30 mph) The cook, Fidel, never returned in time from his trip to Kivalina, so we had to make our own breakfast. Then Tom and I took the Weasel and we drove along the beach to Cravill Point. I tried to wade around it, and could have made it, but I did not want to risk the photographic equipment. Fortunately the crew returned at about noon, from Kivalina, a native village 40 Mi. E. of here along the shore. Ron Brower took us by boat to the Alaid colony, where we spent the rest of the afternoon photographing the birds. Alcids, alcids, rows of them, in places up to 250 m along the face of the cliffs. A fantastic experience. In the evening, I tried in vain to catch mosquitoes in Steve, however, the 35 mph wind made collecting impossible. 8 Aug The wind increased to about 30 Mph and blew all day. It was too windy to go by boat to the Alaid colony, so I walked. It took one hour and 5 minutes to go from camp to the mouth of Narnak Creek. I arrived there at 10:05, and stayed there till 15:30, photographing birds. I had to go back to the colony, because my camera broke down
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Verleek 1966 Journal 69 yesterday, which means that all my pictures were lost. On the beach I found two dead Thilde killed Murre and collected one of them, since the other one was spoiled. The rough weather is probably responsible for making them collide with the rocks. On my way back I hiked about 1 km up Nasorak Creek and then I hiked up hill on my way home. I saw one Tree Swallow in Nasorak Valley. On the slopes I noticed several Wheatears and a few White-c. Sparrows in the willows along the creeks. Got home at 16:15. The ARK plane just left with the two guys - (Frank Little and Bob Barodate). In the evening I prepared the skin of the Thilde killed Murre (NAMU 153). Aug. Another windy day with plenty of snowshoe. I stayed inside during the morning. In the afternoon Tom and Ron Brower and I hiked up the valley N of camp to the area where I had seen the Bare-tailed Godwit a few days ago. We did not see the birds, but we did see a family group of Willow Ptarmigan and we found a long-tailed Jaeger to drop a large Dicrosternix trismucronatus which it had caught. We went home by way of the Ogotank valley. In the evening Ron Brower suggested a trip along the cost in the direction of Kavellina, because he had seen a Walrus along the beach which had not yet been stripped of its ivory. Apparently the Eskimos killed a lot of Walruses and failed to recover a good percentage of them. These animals
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Journal 70 either sank for good, while a few floated towards the shore. We drove by Weasel about 30 km along the shore and in this sketch I counted the partly decomposed carcasses of 16 Walruses. The one we were looking for had been stripped of its ivory in the mean time, but nevertheless the trip was worthwhile. I spotted a small Ringed Seal (Pusa hispida) which was killed with an ax by Ron Brower. At the end of our trip I spotted a Grizzly Bear feeding along the lake shore. The lake in question was probably Seppings Lagoon. On the return trip we saw another Grizzly Bear about 3 km from our camp. This bear had come down from the hills to feast on death Walruses. We saw many tracks of bear along the coast. When we got to close he saw my hill and sat on one of the Tilarink Hills, silhouetted against the sky. It was a very large bear indeed. 10th Aug. The wind had gone down in force during the night to about 12 mph. In the morning I walked along the beach W of camp and I spent some time photographing Citellus penyxi. The Red Fox, which had a den in the foot hills of Crowhill Point was not available to be photographed. In the afternoon, Tom and I took the Weasel and we drove E along the beach to have a closer look at the sod hut we had seen at the mouth of Kikhtoya Creek. At about 16:00 an ARH plane came over, apparently to pick us up. We had trouble getting back to camp, because of troubles with the motor of the Weasel. We left at 17:50,
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Journal 74 Knot. Seen once, two birds (?) late in the evening of 5 August in the tussock tundra along Trail Creek Peetral Sandpiper. Two birds along the Creek on August 8 and I heard, but did not see at least one bird in the evening of 9 August. Band Sandpiper. One bird on the kidney shaped hill W. of Ogotoruk Creek, in the evening of 5 August. Dunlin. Seen on 6 and 7 August along Ogotoruk Creek just N. of camp. Long billed Dowitcher. Four birds in the tussock tundra on 5 August (Trail Creek). Not seen in the same area 9 Aug. All four were adult birds. Semi-palmated Sandpiper. Seen along Ogotoruk Creek on 6 and 8 August. Also seen on the weasel tracks W. of camp on 8 August. Bay tailed Godwit. Seen on 5 August (2 birds, one grayish one brown) at about 21:00. Again seen on 7 August (one single bird) along Ogotoruk Creek. One single bird on a river bar near the mouth of Trail Creek on 7 August, and another single bird in a small creek bed near Crowbill Point. Hudsonian Godwit. Two birds seen 10 August in the delta of Ogotoruk Creek. Northern Phalarope. Seen on Ogotoruk Creek on 9 August.
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A H Verbeek 1966 Journal 15 Point Barrow, Alaska 11 Aug. A beautiful sunny day with a rather cold wind. In the morning I walked the Drum Area to make feeding observations. The most common shore bird was the Peetral, followed by the Semipal and then the Red backed Sandpiper. The tundra had changed during my three week absence, I found. The ground had thawed out further, making the puddles deeper and the areas which were walkable before where wetter, that is to say, the wet areas were wetter. In the afternoon I went by weasel to Gasoline Bridge. Again the peetrals were the most common, followed by Red backs. Semipals being absent. The Semipal seems to feed almost exclusively on bare muddy lake and pond shores, while the Peetral prefers the "mossy bogs" at present. The grass in many of the ponds had grown rather well during our absence, especially the species which grows in the deep center part of the ponds. This species has reddish brown blades. Sphagnum moss grows actively in shallow ponds and in some cases it actually seems to fill my ponds. Just before supper Steve and I got some more soil samples along a small pond, which I had found to be rather rich in Chironomid larvae earlier this morning. 12 Aug. Sunny all day with a cold wind. Stayed inside during the morning to finish notes In the afternoon I went to P. Teller's plot and census'd it. Except for Peetral Sandpipers and a few Red Phalaropes there were no other shore birds. The soil on the plot is too dry and does not have
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M Verbeek 1966 Journal 77 14 Aug Another beautiful sunny day. I counted Chironomid larvae in the morning. In the afternoon I spent two hours in the field catching more chironomids. The rest of the time was spent counting larvae. Total catch in two days 3500. 15 Aug. The good weather could not last. Today we had a little bit of everything - sun, fog and snow flurries. At present, 22:15 the ground looks white. In the morning we went to the area between Wohlschlag Slough & Ikapuk Slough, where Tom set two lines of traps. Steve and I looked for feeding shorebirds but there were few present. Shore birds seem to stick closer to the Ocean shore it seems. It is there where we have been seeing most of the Pectorals and Red Phalaropes. We caught a few beetles and spiders and then we helped Tom to finish setting his line. The trap line site was very wet and we also had to clear the tracks three times. In the afternoon I spent one hour catching Chironomids and then I spent 3 more hours counting them (1650) giving a total of 5150. I tried to catch more of them in the evening but the cold weather must have made them crawl deep, for I caught only 50 in half an hour. 16 Aug Heavy fog, some snow, some sunshine Spend the morning inside counting Chironomids. A half hour before lunch I went to the Duna Area to catch
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J.M. VERBEEK 1966 Journal 78 Canalid beetles. After lunch I went to the same place and I caught some more beetles (total +70). In the rest of the afternoon I caught and counted another 1475 Chironomid larvae. 17 Aug. Foggy morning turning quite sunny in the afternoon. In the morning I walked the Drum Area to gather feeding observations and to get an idea of shore bird movements. The number of birds was low. Most birds were found about one demi inland. South of Honey Bucket I saw no birds at all and there were no birds along the mouth of Vothi Slough. I collected the two eggs of Golden Flower Nest #4, and I removed three nest markers. In the afternoon I caught more Chironomid larvae and I counted them till about 17:00 (catch 1700). Our total is now up to 10,000. After a hasty supper (bowl of soup) I hitched to Duck Camp, the Eskimo tent village, where Steve and Mervel Salomonson, Edna and 3 of her brothers, were waiting for me. We all boarded Mervel's umiak for a trip to Point Barrow, where he had found the nest of Ceyphys griglie in an oil barrel 18 Aug. Spent the morning inside writing notes, counting Chironomid larvae & socializing. In the afternoon I collected more Chironomid larvae but the weather was rather cold so I only caught half the normal number for an hours work (+700). Edna and I counted them.
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H Verbeek 1966 Journal 79 In the evening I went along with Tom (Tom turned 21 to-day) to his trap lines and while he ran the lines I removed this years nest stakes of Pitelka's plot, to avoid confusion next year. When we got back at 22:30 I dismantled the skin of Ursia lonaria, which was beginning to become very greasy on the abdomen, this is spite much scrapping when I originally prepared the skin. 19 Aug. A rather gloomy day with fog and some sunshine in the early afternoon. In the morning I mapped part of the nests on the Drum Area, by pacing off distances between the nests and the row of telephone poles. I removed and took home the nest stakes of the nest I mapped. There was little shore bird activity - only saw a few Red backs and Semipals and perhaps 15 Red Phalaropes. In the afternoon Steve and I caught more Chironomids and I counted some till 17:30. In the evening we all went to the seminar, after which we threw a modest beer party in our lab. 20 Aug A very foggy day which prevented air planes from landing at Barrow In the morning I counted Chironomids. In the afternoon Steve and I caught more Chironomids while we then counted. At 15:30 Tom and I went to check the traplines in the Voth Creek Area. Line XII could be run but line XI was standing 14.5 inches in water for its entire
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AM Verbeek 1966. Journal 80 length. There were few birds around, except for some Pintails, we saw Red-bucks (+5), Peletrials (1) and Red. Phalarope (10). I also noted two Parasitic Jaegers. Before going home we drove SE along the Gas Well Road to the point where the tracks go thru the tundra proper. Near this point, in a drained lake, I found about a dozen flowering plants of Senecio congestus. In the evening, we counted more Chironomids. 21 Aug. Sunday. Again a day of fog and no sun. Janette Gerheart came in on the Wien plane and we spent the rest of the day showing her the tundra. 22 Aug. Took care of some correspondence in the morning and then at 10:00 I got the news that at 10:10 I was to leave for Meade River for an over-night trip. The plane took off at 11:05 and we landed at Meade River at 11:40. All the way we flew above the clouds and Gary Sheppard missed the camp by many miles to the SE.
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M Verbeek 1966. Journal 81 Meade River, Alaska. 22 August I arrived at 11:40 and I was welcomed by everybody in the station. The arrival of a plane is still the event of the day; After lunch, Paul and I started out on a long bike to the S. of camp (+8 km), across the neck of the large oxbow and then further parallel with the river for an- other km, at which point we waded across the river, which was about 25 cm deep at its deepest point. On the other side we continued for another km till the river swings W again. On the return trip we followed the same route. During the 15 km trip we saw only two immature Redbacks, 2 Phalaropes (Red) and one or two Leucials and a Golden Clover. We also saw one Saline Gull, and 4 Arctic Terns, one of which was an immature bird. On a lake we saw an Arctic Loon with one juvenile swimming behind it. The tundra has changed in the last three weeks. The polygonal ponds were dried then before; in fact many of them had dried up completely. The reduction in shorebirds may well be a reflection of this. The hard grassy bottoms may well be too tough, especially for young birds with soft bills to feed in. These polygonal marshes - marshes of mainly carex, surrounded by polygon ridges - are a very important component at Meade River, which make the area so very much different from the tundra around Barrow. These shallow, stagnant marshes are probably the main contributors to the mosquito population, early in the season. In any future work these marshes should be looked at carefully.
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Journal 82 The vegetation at Meade River had entered the Autumn phase. Arctostaphylos alpina, and Betula, especially on the sand dunes were turning red and several species of Salix were beginning to color yellow. There were also some flowering plants, especially along the river and in areas of late snow melt. Of mammals I only saw one Dinostonyx (caught by Duke, the dog). I did not see any Caribou. 23 Aug. The plane was supposed to pick us up today, so we were more or less tied to camp. In the morning I walked along the river and along the stream near the village and later on Paul and I went to one of the four active ice cellars, into which we descended to have a look. The cellar was mainly used to store white fish. This morning alone one of the Eskimos caught some 20 of them, all ± 50-60 cm long. There seems to be little Grayling in the river, or perhaps the nets are not suitable for them, because among the 100 (±) fish in the cellar there was not a single one of them. After lunch Paul and I hiked along the river to the dunes N. of the village. In the Eriophorum along the river we caught one hemmous. When we got back home at 16:00 the plane came to pick us up. Paul and I and John Roup left camp at about 16:10. Farewell to Meade River, a wonderful camp!
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A M Verbeek 1966 Journal 84 Point Barrow, Alaska 24 Aug. A cloudy day without sunshine. I went with Tom to the Volta Area, and while he set trap lines II A ad IV B I searched for Carabid beetles underneath oil barrels. In about 2 hours I had caught 23 beetles. I also caught some Tipula larvae, 7 Prionosoma larvae, apparently the first one of the season, and three long worms, which look like analids. In the afternoon I went to the Drum Area behind our laboratory, where I gathered feeding observations. Mainly Red backs and Semipals. The birds are mainly confined to pond and stream edges. This is no doubt where the food is, but we should not forget also, that most of the birds are juveniles and have soft beaks which are more suitable for this soft muddy habitat. Steve left for Fairbanks this afternoon at about 15:30. After his departure Tom and I looked for Carabid beetles underneath oil barrels on the Drum Area below the telephone lines. We caught 37 beetles and one Tipula within half an hour. After supper I took Paul de Benedictis to the ARL airport. Tom came back from trapline 3 and 4 without a single catch. This is strange since I saw quite a bit of lemming sign to-day in the Cake River area while I was looking for Carabid beetles. It is possible that the beasts are concentrated near the oil barrels, since they like to burrow under them. I saw two lemmings, while I was tipping canvases. One of them was adult and large, the other was
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Journal 85 an immature 25 Ang. Fog in the morning and early afternoon. Rain in the evening. I stayed in during most of the morning. At about 10:30 Tom came back from his traplines and he reported a hawk in the telephone poles at the FAA station. We went back and found the bird in the general area. It proved to be an immature Rough-legged Hawk. Tom fired one shot at the bird and since it looked like he hit the bird we pursued it in the very dense fog. We managed to get lost for a while, but thanks to the gannage I noted along a lake, which I figured to be Smith Salt Lagoon, we got back to the weasel. In the afternoon I wrote some letters and I counted some more large Chironomids. Then, at about 15:00 I walked along the shore for an hour, where I only saw Red Phalarope, one Semipalmated Sandpiper and 8 Glaucous Gulls. The wind came from the E, which meant that the ice was too far from shore, and consequently there was little bird activity. 26 Ang. The wind shifted to the SW during the night. The morning was very mild (I walked around without gloves and with my jacket open). In the afternoon it began to rain, and with few interruptions this continued till the present (23:00). In the morning I went to the Dunny Area to finish pacing of distances of the nests I located there. This completed the job.
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except there were less Dowitchers. In the afternoon I hiked along the beach to Duck Camp. Phalaropes, Sanderling, Glaucous Gull and Arctic Tern were the species present. At Duck Camp was a group of ~25 immature Red-backs and 4 Semipalmated as well as 5 Turnstones. The older ducks were still flying. I saw two groups both of which were shot at by the Eskimos, who are still camped there (about 7 families). Several small boys and girls with sling shots were hunting Red Phalaropes along the shore. Their aim is not to accurate but on the other hand the naive target gives them plenty of opportunity and I suspect that many a Phalarope is killed this way. A sudden dense fog made an end to my shore bird feeding observations. I got home at 16:15. Parker came home from his Snowy Owl catching trip to Pow, in Harrison Bay. He reported having seen Willow Ptarmigan, Gyrfalcon, Dowitcher, Semipalmated, Redback, Red Phalarope, Snowy Owl, Lapland Longspur, as well as Arctic, Yellow-billed and Red-throated Loon, Arctic Tern, Glaucous Gull, Pomarine and Parasitic Jaeger. Remmings were common, he said. He also saw Arctic Fox and Caribou. A few days ago they caught a Raven. 28 Aug. A foggy and stormy day with a NE wind. After breakfast Tom and I went to the Cake Eater Area to check a report of Snowy Owls (three) having been seen there yesterday. We drove as far as the improved road goes (across Venth Creek) but we failed to see Snowy Owls.
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Journal 88 It is quite possible that bewelle saw the owls, but the presence of many Glancus gulls in the Britton Area (they have been there several days) makes me think he may have mistaken gulls for owls. We did see a Gyr falcon on our way back Back in the laboratory Tom put the finishing touches to his luggage. After a fierce internal battle he decided to hang on to the crab he got at Cape Thompson. This beast, a fine specimen indeed, is to hang on the wall of "his den" as he calls it, where, I gather, he hangs everything he ever collected. The crab went into the bottom of a small cardboard box and on top of this, in a space largely filled with green wet grass he put Henk's "Animals" from Cape Thompson. After having sent several letters and two telegrams to mom and dad, announcing his arrival time, reschedules, possible delays, etc., Thomas finally boarded the RYD, with only one more worry on his mind: he had to send one more telegram from Fairbanks. Fare ye well, Thomas! After Tom's departure I walked home from the airport and on my way I noticed a flock of dark birds on the Ocean near shore. I went back to this spot with the scope. The birds in question were Old squaws. Steve did not come home yet, so I assume he has gone to Anchorage to the Science Conference like a lot of people he did.
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M Verbeek 1966 Journal 89 29 Aug The snow that fell last night remained on the ground all day today. In addition the cold NE wind kept blowing, all in all making field work unpleasant. In the morning I took care of a shipment of accumulated mail from Berkeley (mostly bills!) and in the early afternoon I took care of the proof of my Anise Murrelet note in the Condor. Hope this is the last I hear of it. Then at about 14:30 I hiked over the Drum Area toward the S. shore of Honey Bucket Lagoon. Going down was fine with the wind in my back, but coming back was a different matter. Most, in fact all shorebird activity was within half a kilometer from camp. Outside that area I saw 5 Steller Eider females and a small gull, which was definitely not a Glaucous Gull, the size of a Mew Gull, with reddish legs and a pale colored bill with a black tip. I could not see any black - the wing or any where else. The light was not too good and the bird did not let me come very close. The ornithologist, Jim Parker left to night and Steve came back from Fairbanks. 30 Aug. Got up late after a restless night. The weather has not changed since yesterday. We still have the strong NE wind and the snow is still on the ground. From about 10:00 to 11:00 I walked around Imlipuk. There were very few birds around. In fact
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AM Verbeek 1966 Journal 90 I only saw one immature Golden Plover, 4 Black Brant, 203 Red Backs and 1 Red Phalarope. On the ocean I saw ±15 Old Squaw and an equal number of Arctic Terns. After lunch Steve and I wrapped the bird and mammal skins in paper tubes and when that was done we decided to go into the tundra to pick up the tangle-foot insect traps. However, we could not get the lease started so we stayed inside and packed more stuff and in general cleaned the laboratory. There was a great influx of eider duck migration today. At one time I saw a long drawn out flock of about 500 birds. 31 Aug. The gray clouds about us produced some more snow today, but at times we had very brief moments of weak sun shine. In the morning we continued to clean the laboratory. We did the same in the early afternoon. Towards 15:00 Steve and I went by weasel to pick up his tangle-foot insect traps. At Micro Met I removed three more stakes and took them home. From Micro Met we drove around Central Marsh to the end of Pileika's plot to pick up more insect traps. Fine snow was falling at the time. Steve collected one Golden Plover (immature) and a Red Back (immature). Golden Plovers were the most common bird around the Marsh followed by Red Backs. We also saw one Pectoral and two Black-bellied Plovers. What they were feeding on I do not know. The
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A.M. Verbeek 1966 Journal 91 ground was frozen at the time. Saw one juvenile lemmus to day. 1 Sept A very cold day with partially clearing skies in the afternoon. In the morning Steve and I did some more packing In the afternoon I hiked along the shore for about an hour taking pictures of Red phalarope along the beach. There were more birds today than there have been recently. 2 Sept. A foggy, cold and windy day. The wind shifted E and we had snow flurries. I wrote some letters in the morning and then toward 11:00 I guided Nama Buchannen around. She is the secretary of the ARB Canadian counterpart at Imurik in the Mackenzie delta. In the afternoon I took her to Baron, where the Nath Star, which arrived yesterday, was being unloaded. 3 Sept. A somber foggy day with snow flurries and a cold E wind In the morning I hiked from ARB along the beach and the road to Taphlins AAB and from there through the tundra to the C R R E L ice cellar; from there I crossed North Creek and continued along North Slough over the lummuswerk S of Honey Bucket Lagoon and back to ARB over the Drum Area.
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AM Verbeek Journal 92 There was a light snow cover but the grass was still visible. There was 3/4 cm ice on all ponds. Flooded tundra was still rather soft underneath the ice. Of birds there were few. Besides a flock of geese, some of which were White-fronts, there was one Parasitic Jaeger, a few Golden Plovers and Redbacks and a flock of Glaucous gulls. In the afternoon I went on the hiz Mann, which went to the Point 30 Durham (from Allen Hancock Foundation) could take some samples from a fresh water lake there. I took the opportunity to visit the Black Guillemot nest. Besides a few Glaucous gulls and Arctic Tern, I saw some 500 Saline Gulls. On the way back the boat went to the pack ice -- some 7 miles off shore, where I had hoped to see some aloids. However, the pack ice proved to be rather sterile. I did not see a single bird for a distance of some 5 km. 4 Sept. During the morning I made a trip to the village where the North Star was still being unloaded. The afternoon I spend packing the remainder of my belongings. 5 Sept. Made a trip with Pat Clark to his USGS station, where he gave me a guided tour of his instruments. Very impressive, but I was amazed at the inadequacy of the buildings the instruments are housed in. The airplane was to leave around 10:00, but after several delays we finally departed at 17:00.
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AM Verbeek 1966 hist of bird species seen at Barrow from 3 June to 23 July, from 11 August to 21 August, and from 24 August to 5 September, 1966. (46+2? species) Yellow-billed Loon Arctic Loon Red-throated Loon Whistling Swan Black Brant White-fronted Goose Snow Goose Pintail Old Squaw Steller's Eider Common Eider King Eider Spectacled Eider Rough-legged Hawk Gyr Falcon Willow Ptarmigan ? Semi-palmated Plover American Golden Plover Black-bellied Plover Ruddy Turnstone Knot Peetoral Sandpiper White-rumped Sandpiper Baird's Sandpiper Dunlin (Red-backed Sandpiper) Long-billed Dowitcher Semi-palmated Sandpiper Western Sandpiper Buff-breasted Sandpiper Curlew Sandpiper Sanderling Red Phalarope Northern Phalarope Pomarine Jaeger Parasitic Jaeger Long-tailed Jaeger Glaucous Gull Sabine's Gull Arctic Tern Black Guillemot Short-eared Owl Snowy Owl ? Western Wood Pewee Rusty Blackbird White-crowned Sparrow Redpoll Hapland Longspur Snow Bunting
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Verbeek, N. A. M. 1966 Alaska Census Plot Data
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NAM Verbeek 1966 Gavia stellata 21 June Saw a pair (?) flying over. One of the birds made much noise in the form of ducklike quacks, in a stuttering manner 29 June Heard the wailing of two birds on Wohlschlag Slough. 27 July At Meade River I saw two birds on a small lake. By laying down in the grass and waving my cap above the grass horizon the birds came quite close, so I could take a telephoto shot. 11 Aug. Back at Barrow. saw two birds S. of Gasoline Ridge
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A M Verbeek 1966 Gavia arctica 11 June At about 23:30 two bird came flying along the W shore heading N.E. 16 June There were two birds on Voth Slough and later on I saw an other one in the same place (close to Honey Bucket Lagoon) Saw a pair on a pond below Wohlschlag Slough 10 July Saw about 4 birds on our trip to the lagoon and the Point b-day. 27 July At Meade River, I noticed several birds, most of them in pairs on small lakes. I have seen no adults with chicks at all. 22 Aug. At Meade River, Paul and I saw one adult and one juvenile (3/4 the adult in size) on a lake S. of camp. This is the only young I have seen this summer. 24 Aug Back at Barrow, there were two birds on Voth Slough
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Art VerBeek 1966 Gavia adamsii 13 June One single bird flew SW at about 150 m height. With the sun about 15° above the horizon (it was +22:30) the yellow bill was clearly visible. 29 July. At Meade River, I finally had a good look at this most majestic of all loons. It was fishing on the River, some 4km downstream from our camp. The bird was fishing the same route from the shore to the middle of the river at a diagonal to the shore, and it did this repeatedly. current → Coming up at the same places each time. 17 Aug. Back at Barrow, I saw two birds flying over us while Hurrel Solomonson took us in his umiak to the Point.
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AM Verbeek 1966 Anser albifrons 9 June At Honey Bucket hagoon we saw three White-fronted Geese on a bare patch of ground, bathi on at the W. side of Foot Print lake we saw a flock of seven birds flying overhead in a NE direction. 10 June While we were on Pitelka's plot a flock of I believe seven Brants flew over to the E. 15 June One single bird flew over 3 Sept. Between Voth Creek and Foot Print Lake I saw a group of 16 birds, separate from an other flock of some 50 birds which I could not identify because of the distance. All birds settled on the tundra.
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AM Verbeek 1966 Chen hyperborea 8 June Between South salt lagoon and Honey Bucket lagoon, about 500 m. from the sea shore I noticed one Snow Goose standing on a bare patch. The bird showed the characteristic rusty stain on its head. When I got to close, it stretched its shoulder blades and then moments later it took off. The same bird was probably seen yesterday. 9 June On our way to Footprint lake we saw one Snow Goose in the company of three white-fronted Geese at the mouth of Voth creek. On our way back there were 4 snow geese in the general area. 12 June Two Snow Geese flew inland from Elson lagoon along the South Shore of Ukpik Slough at 22:20. 20 June. A flock of 18 Snow Geese flew by from the edge of Honey Bucket lagoon at 20:00 and flew East. Chen hyperborea is now Chen caerulescens (Snow Goose) per AOU 1993
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M. Verbeek 1966 Branta nigricans 11 June Over Elson lagoon Steve and I saw a group of seven brids, and later on three more. 13 June Three brids flew over the south end of Honey Bucket 24 June A flock of 5 brids flew across Wohlschlag Slough at 06:05. A flock of 11 brids over the Drain Area. They prepared to settle on the fresh water lake but they flew on. 5 July Three brids over South Salt lagoon 15 Aug Eight brids on Ikpuk Slough. 26 Aug One bird, possibly wing shot on Elson Lagoon. 30 Aug Four birds flying over Imikpuk. Branta nigricans is Branta bernicla (Brant) per AOU 1998
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A.M. Verbeek 1966 Anas acuta (1) 8 June Two males and a female came from the NW over Wohlschlag Slough and wanted to settle on the meadows there. There was some standing water available but my presence scared them off and they continued. 10 June About 1 mi.S. of Grant Point we saw 5 males fly over and then settle on an inundated stretch of meadow. 13 June I saw 3 males and later on one pair, as well as several single males. 14 June Four males on some water standing on the ice in the center of Central Marsh. 15 June One pair landed on a marshy meadow on the Drum area 16 June Saw one pair on the Drum area near trayline IX and X. They have been around there for several days now. 18 June A flock of some 15 birds flew between Garline Bridge & the Gas Well 23 June Two birds in the Britton Area 28 June Found a nest with 7 eggs at 20.30 about 100 m. S. of the Bridge crossing the water line. The female flushed off the nest as I walked by. 30 June Three males flew up from a puddle between the gas line & Garline Bridge 5 July Seven males south of South Salt Lagoon in a flooded meadow. 7 July Still 7 eggs in nest found 28 June. Female flushed. 17 July Nest found on 28 June has been robbed of its eggs. 15 Aug Saw at least 8 birds today, along the east side of Central Marsh and between I. Kepule & Wohlschlag Slough 17 Aug Two birds on a small pond S. of Honey Bucket Lagoon.
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A.M. Verbeek 1966 Anas acuta (2) 20 Aug In the Voth Area I saw just 4 and then later on another 3 birds jumping out of the marshy area. 24 Aug One single bird on Voth Slough. 25 Aug Three birds along the S. shore of South Salt Lagoon 28 Aug Four birds over the airport.
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N.A.M. Verbeek 1966 Polysticta stelleri (1) 13 June Two pair of these ducks swam around on the tundra pools and water filled gullies which are abundantly available since about yesterday. 16 June Saw one pair in the Britton Area 17 June One pair at S. end of Honey Bucket lagoon in some puddles. 21 June A female and two males in a puddle between Beach Ridge and Imikpink lake at 09:00 23 June A pair on a puddle in the S.E. corner of Honey Bucket. 25 June One male E. of Imikpink lake and an other single male on a small lake W. of Elson lagoon. 26 June One pair S.E. of Honey Bucket lake 30 June One 0? s of South Meadow lake and an othe male near the Hummocks on the SE corner of Honey Bucket. 1 July Two males on a pond ± 500 m below Wohlschlag Slough One male was obviously in residence as he kept pursuing the other. Both birds went thru a head-up display, "in which the head is thrown up, exposing the black area under theill and neck. Finally the pursued male flew away. 5 July Saw one pair S. of South Salt lagoon, seems rather late in the season to see a pair. The male that hung around the hummocks S.E. of Honey Bucket has been gone since the 2 of July. 8 July Four males feeding on Nunivak Slough. 13 July A flock of 14 0? Steller's Eider over Honey Bucket at 19:15 21 July Steve and I saw a 0 with 5 blackish young in a series of small lakes in the Voth Slough Area. 27 July [illegible] female on small lake E. of the large lake W. of
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NAM. Verbeek 1966 Somateria spectabilis (1) June 3 The whole day long I have seen large flocks of eiders, flying rapidly and closely over land and the frozen sea. Steve picked one up, last night. The beast apparently flew against a telephone wire and broke a wing. This seems to happen more often here. June 4 There were few King Eiders today. I only noticed two flocks flying north and two flocks flying south. One of the latter consisted of two females and about 25 males. Yesterday we saw a string of 9 males flying south. Apparently these males are finished with the breeding season and are heading south again. June 5. On the several occasions that I was out in the field today, I only saw one string of eiders flying north (±21:00) and a single male flying west at the same time. June 6. One flight of 20 birds moved south, flying low over land in a dense fog at about 10:30. 7 June No eiders seen today 8 June Around 2200, a flock of ±40 birds flew along the coast heading NE, flying close over the pack ice. 9 June While we were out on the shore of Foot Print lake we saw a long line of eiders fly northward. They flew very close over land. There must have been at least 50-60 birds in the flock. 10 June Six birds (2♂, 4♀) flew overhead heading north. In the evening 21:00 a string of some 100 birds flew north along the coast. 11 June Several large flocks, over a 100 birds each moved along the coast
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NAM Verbeek 1966 Somateria spectabilis (2) in a general Northward direction. Some days ago I thought we had seen the tail end of migration. Apparently the bad weather of the last few days slowed things down. Saw one flock of 70, 79 at close range. 13 June One pair flew low over the pool behind the garbage dump. 15 June One flock of 10 males flew low over our camp heading S. One pair on both shores. 30 June 10 July The first flocks are coming back from the breeding grounds and were being welcomed by a barrage of artillery fire from the camp. The eiders started coming over from about 19:30 as we came back from the Penit. Steve says they were flying in the afternoon too.
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AM Verbeek 1966 Somateria melligissima 11 June A flock of 50, 29 flew at about 150 yards height - front of me when I was at Honey Bucket haggon. In the afternoon two flocks, one of some 60-75 birds flew over Elson haggon eastward. 20 June Two males, two females flew low over Honey Bucket heading W. 25 June One pair flew over Holmes Mman, heading East. 15 July Saw 3 birds in a flock of +75 King Eiders.
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AM Verbeek 1966 Clangula hyemalis (1) June 5 At 21:00 I saw 3♂, 3♀ flying westward over the peninsula. Steve says he saw a couple of them yesterday. 9 June One male (?) Old Squaw flew over us as we stood on the shore west of Cavy. A few minutes later (22:00) a pair flew over heading N. 11 June Four Old Squaws flew over, heading north at 5:00:15. Later on we saw two large flocks - 50 or more birds and we heard several more but did not see them because of the fog. 13 June Several pairs of Old Squaw (?) swam on the puddles while are now abundantly available after yesterday's melt and today. 16 June Saw a string of some 40 birds heading north at 21:30. The laton, some 15 birds flew close over our heads at break-neck speed, making much noise with their wings as they skimmed over and under some telephone wires. 21 June Heard and saw a single male calling from Wohlschlag Slough at 06:30 8 July Saw a group of 6 males, 3 females on Nunivak Slough S. of Barrow. A flight of 11♂'s over the Drama Area this evening 9 July A flight of 35 birds over Imnikpuk at 17:00 going N. 13 July A flight of 22♂ and 1♀ over Honey Bucket at 19:15. 20 July Paul de Benedictus and Tom Guster found a nest with seven young (+1 day old) in the Lake Eater Area. 27 July At Meade River, on a small pond I saw 22 adult ♂♀ and +40 small chicks, which were quite actively diving for food. There were also 1♀ Spectacled Eider, 2 Red-throated Loon, 1 Arctic Loon
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M Verbeek 1966 Clangula hyemalis (2) 11 Aug Five females on North Meadow lake. 17 Aug We saw a large group, +75-100 birds inside Elson lagoon near Point Barrow. 20 Aug Three females and two males on Honey bucket Lagoon 24 Aug A loose group of 16 birds on Imikpuk at 20:00. 25 Aug One bird on Imikpuk and at least a dozen birds on South Salt Lagoon. 26 Aug In the late afternoon I counted 46 birds on Imikpuk 3 Sept. The most common off-shore duck at present. I saw 3 flocks of 30-50 birds.
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JM Verbeek 1966 Talco rusticulus 28 Aug In the Britton Area Tom Custer and I noticed a gray bird sitting on a mound. With the unaided eye I thought it to be an owl (snowy) but when I looked thru the scope the bird turned out to be a Gyr falcon. When we tried to get closer the bird flew and soon caught my with a flock of Glancous Gulls, at one of which he made a pass. He then continued flying low over the ground for some distance, after which I lost him in the fog. Tom thought it to be the Rough-legged Hawk he saw a few days ago, but the gray color and the fact that it made a pass at a gull as well as the typical falcon like flight close to the ground make me certain that it was a Gyr falcon.
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H. Jerbeek 1966 Lagopus lagopus 22 July. At Meade River I saw a hen with 4 chicks walking in the tall grasses along the River bluff. The young were able to fly, but only resorted to this when pressed, and even then they only flew a few meters. 26 July Saw a hen with a brood of 13 chicks among the willows along the river. When disturbed 12 of the chicks flew across the river and one landed in a shallow puddle along the shore. I picked this bird up and put him down among the willows. 2 August While we went up river in the boat, Duke, the eskimo dog running along shore put up one brood of one adult and 7 chicks, and one brood of 2 adults and 5 chicks. The adults cleverly flew ahead of the dog and led him away from the young. The white in their plumage has obvious distraction value. 22 Aug The dog chased up two family groups, one among the willows along the river and the other one on a polygon ridge in the tundra, about 750 m inland from the river. 26 Aug Some fellow from the Jew site called the ARh. Office that he saw "A Pheasant, a grouse or a ptarmigan, 300 yards from the site - the direction of the gas well. I figured this to be the Beach Ridge area. We went out to check the report but we found no ptarmigan.
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Squaterola squaterola is now Pluvialis squatarola (Black-bellied Plover) per AOU 1998
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A M Verbeek. 1966 Squaterola squaterola (I) 1 July. One single brid feeding in Central Marsh at 12:00 3 July One single brid feeding in Central Marsh at 15:00 17 July Two brids in fall plumage W. of South Meadow Lake 23 July At Meade River I noticed several pairs on the polygon ridged. It looked like they had not molted as much as the Golden Plovers, but all of the pairs I saw behaved as if they had chicks nearby. 26 July. The brids around here seem to be very much concerned with chicks yet. I have not seen any concentrations of adults. 28 July. The more familiar I become with the various displays of the shorebirds around Barrow and Meade River, the more convinced I become that if a bird is superficially similar to another species - Baird Sandpiper - White- rumped Sandpiper (similar except for the white rump) and Golden Plover - Black-bellied Plover (most striking difference is the size and the white upper tail in the latter) then those features which are dissimilar are being used in various displays. In its distraction display around the nest, the Golden Plover deflects the tail and beats the spread wings on the ground (see also description of display in entry of 30 June). In the Black-bellied Plover the wings are spread too and beat on the ground but the tail, instead of being deflected is cocked and spread, taking full advantage of the white upper surface. This makes the bird much more conspicuous. 31 July Some one brid today. They seem to have left the country
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SAM Verbeek 1966 Pluvialis dominica (1) June 3 We saw two males, about ½ of km. from each other feeding on the exposed patches of tundra. One of them, when pressed by our approach flew up and went into the slow- wing-beat flight display which goes accompanied by a single repeated call. June 4 Saw no Golden Plovers today. June 5 No plover's today. June 6 Between 09:00 and 11:00 we saw only one plover feeding on an exposed area. 8 June Saw two Golden Plovers today on the N. shore of Wohlschlag Lough. They are difficult to approach. A third bird flew over Pitellka's plot late in the afternoon. This bird was displaying, flapping with slow wing beats and making the single repeated call. 9 June Two Golden Plovers on S.E shore of Honey Bucket lagoon. In their feeding behavior they walk around in short burst taking some steps and then standing still. Sometimes they will then peck at something, at other times they walk on for a few steps. It almost seems that they either feed by visual clues or perhaps they hear. They do not turn their heads sideways as Robins do, however. I think visual clues are the most important. 10 June One bird on a small snow-free patch in the middle of Central Manola. 14 June Noticed two birds halfway in the act of copulation on the east side of Pitellka's Plot. When the male dismounted he flew off in a half circle and landed some 30 meters behind the female. The female did not start preening but fed instead
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NAM Verbeek 1966 Pluvialis dominica (2) 18 June. On our way back from Gas line Ridge a female flew up some 30 m ahead of us. She had a nest with three eggs, handsomely colored and marked, on top of a mound, the surface of which consisted of broken clumps of moss (Nest #1). 20 June. Copulation took place at about 10:00 between Beach Bridge and Imikpink Lake. 21 June. Observed one copulation about ½ mile S. of Pitelka's census plot and an other one along Elson lagoon, at ± 06:00 and 07:45 respectively. Copulation in this species seems a rather cut and dry occupation, hardly worthwhile to fly to all the way from Hawaii for. In any case, the male hops on and keep flapping his wings. After the transfer of sperm he flies off and lands some 25-30 m further on where he begins to feed. The female remains where she is and does not appear to do anything for a while. In one case she ruffled her feathers about 2 minutes after copulation took place. Since in all these cases I have observed copulation at some distance, I may have missed subtle behavioral aspects and any sounds. In one case, this morning, when the male landed after copulation, I saw him chase, on foot, a Baird Sandpiper. Golden Plovers are still moving in it seems. Several times today at Elson lagoon I saw birds chase each other. Also at this three birds would feed near each other, while then sooner or later would lead to an other chase. Steve observed copulation. Formed a new nest #3 W. of Elson lagoon about 250 m inland. The nest had 4 eggs, one of which was quite differently marked
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NAM Jerbeek 1966 Pluvialis dominica (3) 27 June Found one more nest, 4 eggs (#4) at the Mouth of Voth Lough. Took telephoto picture of the male. 28 South of Imikepink I must have been very close to a nest, although the situation was strange. There was only a male bird around, unless the female was nearby and I never saw her as she remained on the nest. The male ran in front of me and went thru a distraction display stumbling at times and slowly flapping his wings. At times he would remain in one spot and slowly flap his wings while his body appeared to be prostrate on the ground. Never saw a male do this before. Usually the female feigns injury. I wonder whether the slow wing beat in this case is borrowed from the slow wing beat flight display of the male, which somehow got devolved into a distraction display for a nest which as far as I knew was not around the spot where the bird was performing. When I withdrew from the spot the male flew to the Beach Bridge some 700 m away. Again, he was all alone, during this flight. Saw the ♀ of Nest #4 give chase to a Red back near the nest of the flover. This occurred when the female returned to the nest after I flushed her. In the absence of the flover, the Redback had been used near the nest. 29 June On two different occasions today I noticed two Golden Plovers scratch their heads by bringing the leg over the wing. Pitella and I found two more nests (#6,7) each with 4 eggs on his census plot. Later in the afternoon I found one more nest (#8) with 4 eggs, across the road from AACS.
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NAM Verbeek 1966 Pluvialis dominica (4) Some flowers do not seem to breed at all. Saw one such bird, feeding by himself behind AACS. I flushed him twice and he was obviously an unattached bird. 30 June. Noticed a flock of 5 birds standing quietly in the meadow S of Honey Bucket. Distraction display. The female faced me, in which posture the black and white facial pattern becomes very conspicuous. Then her wings were spread to the fullest extent so that the individual primaries were separated from each other at the tip. The wing tips are struck against the ground. One more nest #9 (3 eggs) on the S.W. side of Pitelka's Plot in Central Marsh. 1 July 3 July New nest #11 (4 eggs) to the N. of P's plot. Also saw a group of 3 and 4, 4 G? at various points on P's plot. These are apparently non-breeding birds that are not aggressive themselves and which are also not aggressed against by territorial males. 5 July New nest #12 with 4 eggs N.E. of U.S.C.I.G.S. In the same area I saw a flock of 7 birds. When the female of an other pair I was watching returned to her nest (I did not find the nest) she chased off, on wing, a Bongspur (sex?) who had come to close to the nest. The chase went over some 50 m. 6 July Noticed one flock of 6 birds over the Britton Area. 8 July New nest #13 (4 eggs) W. of North Amundson's Lake. At Nunnivak Slough, we drove the Weasel right beside a nest and Steve took some telephoto shots of the bird on the nest.
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AM Verbeek 1966 Pluvialis dominica (5). 11 July New nest (#14) with 5 (five) eggs on a raised polygon to the S. of Steven's line plot S. of Honey Bucket. Noticed a flock of 6 birds on the Beach Ridge at 15:00 Found new nest (#15) with 4 eggs on the S end of Gas line Ridge (21:45) 14 July Steve and I found a nest, about 10 m. off the W. end of line X. There were only two egg shells left, and in both cases the pointed half of the egg shell. The eggs were fresh, as the albumen was still in liquid form. 15 July Nest #1 had two downies in the nest (one still a little wet on the back) and I found one downy about 2m from the nest. Did not find the fourth one. This is the only nest found before the cultch was complete. The fourth egg was laid 19 June and thus the incubation period is about 26 (27 days) Nest #4 had hatched. Nest #14 - still 5 eggs. 16 July Saw a flock of 13 on the E. side of P's plot. #8 - one wet young, 2 eggs pipped, one not pipped. The glowers are molting badly and have lost their sharply contrasting feathers. 18 July A flock of 16 birds S. of Honey Bucket 20 July Nest #14 still 5 eggs. The eggs are arranged thus [illegible] The fifth egg must be located under the tail or under the lower part of the neck. In both places it cannot receive much heat. 21 July A flock of 18 birds over Voth Slough, beyond Triphine IV. 23 July At Meade River I saw a single adult with one large chick, which did not resort to hiding when we approached, but
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JAM. Verbeek. 1966 Pluvialis dominica (6) instead ran ahead of us. The chick still showed yellowish down on its back. There seem to be fewer Golden Plovers than Black-bellied Plovers around. 26 July I have not seen any flocks of Golden Plovers, which I noticed several times in Barrow. 30 July There are very few G.P. left. 5 Aug. I saw only one G.P. during a 3 km hike W of camp. 11 Aug Back at Barrow, I checked the 5 egg Golden Plover nest and I found two of the eggs had not hatched. I had expected that one would not hatch, but it seems that possibly two eggs are only partly incubated. Saw a group of 4 fledglings, still with some down on the crown of the head. They were close together and may have been nest mates. There was no adult around them. On the N side of Gasline Ridge I heard one adult, the only one heard today. 17 Aug. Took the two remaining eggs out of Nest #14 and checked them at home. One had a fully developed embryo, which may have died on hatching or possibly the adult did not stick around long enough. The other had a small embryo in early state of development. 22 Aug At Meade River. I saw one bird bathing itself on the edge of the River. 26 Aug Two immatures on the drum area. 30 Aug One immature along the shore of Imnikpuk between the lake and the DEW line Site 31 Aug In Central Marsh, along the weasel road I counted 26
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SAM Verbeek 1966 Charadrius Semipalmatus 25 June One bird seen at 23:15 between Honey Bucket and South Salt hagoon 26 June Saws one bird, probably the same as yesterday, near the F.A.A. station
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I AM Verbeek 1966 Arenaria interpres (1) June 3 Among a flock of Glanis gulls there were some 12 Ruddy turnstones. There is as yet not much indication of pair formation, although you do not see birds together as the Sanderling at present. They are a moity bird at present. There are two west of our camp; maybe they will meet there. June 4 Three birds on the sandy disturbed shore West of camp. June 5 Ruddy turnstones are still present = small group (± 1) west of our camp. 6 June There were 3 pairs of Ruddy Turnstones and one single Male on the beach west of our camp. They were very much engaged in territorial display with one bird approaching the other with a hunched back, which is probably brought about by his raising the feathers of the lower neck and upper back. After such an approach the bird which is being approached usually flies off or is then pursued by the attacker or defender. 8 June Widely spaced I saw several Ruddy Turnstones on the tundra today. Around Hooney Bucket wagon I saw two single birds. North of Wohlschlag slough there were two pairs. This species feeds on the tundra by sticking the bill to the ground and the flicking pieces of mud etc. sideways. 10 June Found the first nest of the season, with two green eggs in it. The nest was not more than a scrape with some bits of grass in it. The whole was placed on a large frost boil, so that, there was rather little vegetation around. The adults were not around.
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A.M. Verbeek 1966 Aremanaria interpes (2) 14 June Steve and I went to Elson hagoon to check the Turnstone nest I found on 10 June. The clutch was completed. In addition we found two more nests. All three nests are within 150 m. and two nests were 50 m. apart. X' 50m X2 100m X3 The habitat is a series of polygons surrounded by flat land. The males use the top of the polygons as watch posts. Between nest two and three there is a small lake which may account for the distance between these nest. We checked the # of pairs and it looks like we found all nest on that area. One possible reason for the closeness of the nests and thus the small area of the territories is the fact that the area remained snow bound for a long time. With the birds being physically ready they took what was available. 18 June Tried once more to find the nests but did not succeed. A Parasitic Jaeger flew over and was being chased by five birds, suggesting that I am dealing with 3 pairs. 21 June. The Turnstones at Elson hagoon are still incubating. The males repeatedly chased off approaching Jaegers - Parasitic and longtailed. They fly out to meet the intruder when the distance is still some 1/4 of a mile away and continue to harass it till the poor bird is an equal distance flying away from the nest. It looks like other shore birds do not foster the jaegers 23 June Found a nest with 4 eggs in the polygons in the SE corner of Honey Bracket hagoon. The only way to find these nests is to get close to the general area before the male has a chance to
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J A M Verbeek 1966 Arenaria interpres. (3) betray your presence to the female on the nest. This would be an interesting species to study, but a very difficult one. In a close gully as on the W. side of Honey Bucket lagoon they are almost impossible to approach. Tried again to find one of the nests on this area and failed for the 50th time. Tried again to find the Turnstones at South Salt lagoon. I have the impression that at least one pair has deserted the area. It is difficult to be sure, because the birds which foster upon when you walk over the area could come from some distance away, giving you the impression you are dealing with birds of the immediate area. There are now one, possibly two pairs. At one point I was scolded by two males and a female. I think I now know the general area of one nest. 25 June 7 July 8 July 11 July Next # 4 not hatched yet. Next # 4 just hatched yel at 18:00 Next # 4 had one wet young at 09:00 and two pipped eggs. The 4th egg was not pipped. Gashie Ridge had probably only one pair of Turnstone this season. I only saw the one pair there. 12 July Next # 4 had three young - the nest and one outside, about 6 m. When I returned to the nest an hour later two young were out the nest, about 1 m away. I sat near the nest, trying to get pictures of the excited adult or, and one of the young outside the nest tried to crawl back to the nest. It was raining hard ad all young were making distress calls. When I stepped to the other side of the nest, the young that crawled to the nest earlier now crawled in my
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A.M. Verbeek 1966 Arenaria interpres (4) direction, as did an other bird which was still in the nest. It looked like they moved in response to a large moving object (myself) Found a partial eggshell about 112 m from the nest. 13 July One dead young in the nest, and two young about 100m from the nest. Collected the dead young. 14 July Tom caught one of the young of nest 4 in his tiny birthday 26 July. At Meade River I saw one bird scolding me, as I walked along the shore of a large lake about 2 km S. of camp. 30 July One bird over our camp to-day. 4 Aug. One bird along the river bank 3 km N of camp 11 Aug. Brick at Barrow, I did not see any Turnstones to-day. 13 Aug One juvenile S. of North Meadow lake 17 Aug There were 4 birds along the ocean shore W of the airport and I saw three more birds near the Point (Duck camp) 24 Aug. One bird on the Drum Area. 25 Aug. One bird along the S. shore of South Salt Lagoon. 27 Aug. There were 5 birds feeding on the gravelly shore of a pond S. of the NASA site.
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A.M. Verbeek 1966. Calidris canutus (1) 13 June Two birds fed in a saturated quarry meadow. I could only get to about 100 m. from them and they would fly away. Apparently two birds were present in this general vicinity last year. 15 June When I got to the drum area, just behind our laboratory I heard a sound which I could not identify. About an hour later the same sound came from overhead, and it appeared to be made by the Knot, which Paul de Benedictis identified. The bird flew at about 150-200 m above us, the male following the female (I guess). At times both birds would glide, but the male glided more. During this gliding the male repeatedly made the following song: (ooo eee) (ooo eee) (ooo eee) ooo as in book eee as in lek The song appeared as a sine wave ~~~ and was uttered (in one case) 18 times in 30 seconds. At times it was interrupted by tweec-t, tweec-t, notes, which were delivered in a stretched out manner. Later on in the day I made some feeding observation, in wet marshy (saturated) places. The birds made soft call notes (when they got too far away from each other?) which sounded like tititi (very soft and mellow) 16 June A single female feeding along side the road in the meadow at the Britton Area. 19 June Saw a single bird, probably a male, feeding along the gasoline mot [illegible] from where it branches to go to the Radar site. I probably heard this bird earlier as it called it "not-not"
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JAM Verbeek 1966 Calidris canutus (a) call and the ooo-eee song. 20 June Noticed a single bird feeding at 20:45 in the Drum Area. At one point a Baridi got too close to the Knot and the latter made a few steps toward the Baridi in an aggressive way. After about 10 minutes observation the Knot flew away and when I followed him I noticed there was a second bird in the air. They both took off. 22 June. Saw one bird about ½ of a mile by the Voth slough (from its months) feeding in company of two Golden Plovers. 1 July Two birds, calling knot-knot, flying over Drum Area and landing there at 21:30, across from Telephone pole 22. 13 July Found one bird in attendance of four small downy young at 20:21 on the Drum Area near the gas line about 100 m. N. of the point where it decides to go to the Dew line Site. When I returned 25 minutes later the young had moved ± 30 m. Took Tom Austin out to verify the record and also took 10 pictures of the adult and clownies. After a cup of tea I went back again and collected one downy at 22:30. The downies had moved some 45 m from where I left them after our photography. Looking back over my notes, it looks like I saw the bird in the same place on 19 June. Strange I did not see a Knot between 1 July and to-day. Characterized the spot where I saw the young on my three observation times. m 485 w? f sat 3/6A 3/2 m 486 w? lp W 3/6A 1/1 m 487 w? lo W 3/6A 3/2
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NAM Verbeek 1966 Calidris canutus (3) When I was around the young the female called the Knot. Knot distress call, and in response to the discomfort peep of the young she made chucking noises, very soft and somewhat reminiscent of a chicken. She brooded the young by holding one under each wing and two under the chest. The young moved head first, so that their dorsal ends stuck out. There was only one adult with the chick and no other adult to be seen anywhere. When I walked away I heard the ooo see call, apparently given by the bird in attendance of the chick. If this is true, the male was in attendance of the young, since this is a call given by the male (see 15 June). 14 July Steve and I went to the Drum Area and found the Knot + 3 chicks about 50 S. of the Santerling nest. We took some more pictures. I again heard the bird making the male type call. Prepared the skin of the Downy young 6-day (NAMV 147) and found a yellow yolky material inside the bird, indicating that it had only recently hatched. 15 July. Found the Knot (only one adult) with his three young on the S. side of Honey Bucket, roughly 800-900 m from where I found them 13 July. Characterized the spot: 499 3? lp w 36A 1/2 o. As I walked away from the chicks the adult walked in front of me, calling knot-knot, occasionally flying to stay ahead of me. When I was about 25 m away from the young he began the typical Calidrid crunching walk, accompanied by squeaks. I returned to the chicks, to see whether she would repeat this
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JAM Verbeek 1966 Calidris canutus (4) Behavior sequence. Again, when I walked away from the chicks, the adult walked in front of me calling Knot-knot, and this walking went over its a crouched walk + squeeking when I was +25 m from the groy. He kept it up for some 150 m and then flew back to the chicks. The breast feathers of the adult look very motled indicating that he is molting. 16 July Found the Knot back between the shore of Honey Bucket and Stephen's hive plot, about 100 m from where they were yesterday. Characterized area. 502 37 f w %A 3/2 18 July. The Knots had moved to the mouth of Voth Slough, about 500 m from where I saw the last. I only saw one chick with the adult 19 July Heard the Knot in the area where Steve and I saw them on 14 July. This means they moved from the Voth Slough area to near the Sandling nest in one day, roughly 1000 m. This seems like a long distance. Steve saw the adult but did not search for the chick (s'). He thought the adult behaved as if he had chicks. 20 July. Walked the Polygon along the East S. shore of Honey Bucket and did not hear the Knot. If the bird had only one chick left on 18 July, it might be that he lost that chick and that when Steve saw the adult yesterday, the bird was without chick (s'), hence the long distance.
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NAM Verbeek 1966 Calidris alba (1) June 4 Along the beach, W of the cavy there were q brids at 23:00 feeding together - the sand. June 5 Spotted two more brids at the same place this morning. at about 10:00. To night at 21:00 there were still two brids. They do not do much else but feed. There are usually some Ruddy Turnstone nearby. 6 June Two pairs feeding on the beach (the disturbed area). One male approached an other male - the same hunched back approach as I saw the Ruddy Turnstone use. 8 June Two pairs feeding on the sandy beach W of our cavy. There were also some (4) Ruddy Turnstones there. 9 June Saw one bird - the company of a pair of Ruddy Turnstones on the east shore of Honey Bucket. All three were feeding on mud. At times it looked as if the Sanderling fed on the same places where the Turnstones fed, after these moved on to the next feeding spot. Perhaps the Turnstones loose the ground making it easier for the Sanderling to get it to the ground. Although I did not see the Sanderling jab a probe, I did notice some mud chinging to its bill about have way for the trip. On the beach, West of Cavy there appeared to be two pairs and a single bird, as well as some Turnstones. 15 June Saw one single bird on the Drum Area and later on a pair. The birds do not appear to have a territory. 16 June Saw two birds, a pair, on the Drum Area. 17 June At about 16:00 I observed a pair of Sanderling feeding along the S. shore of Honey Bucket. The birds stayed close together as they fed among the grasses. On three occasions in my 10 minute observation
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NAM Verbeek 1966 Calidris alba (2) the male went thru the following bit of behavior. He would conch down in the grass and lower his body flat on the ground and stick his head forward horizontal with the ground. The body feathers were smooth (not ruffled). The tail was slightly raised exposing the white underside. The incline of the tail, taking the leading edge of the wing as the horizontal was about 15-20°. During this conch the bird remained silent, and absolute motionless for about 30 seconds. Prior to going to the crowd, the bird walked around as if compressed fronto-posteriorly, slightly arched back. In this posture the bird appeared very tense. During this behavior the female kept on feeding. 19 June. At about 15:15 I was out S of Honey Bucket again, at the same spot were Pitella and I saw the Sanderling in the evening of June 17. This time I noticed the male notating in a nest bowl, like I saw the Baird's Sandpiper do. The tail was up and he was shaping the nest bowl with his breast. After rotating once he stepped out and began to throw pieces of grass behind him. In the Baird this grass shaking seems over the shoulder. In the Sanderling it looked like it was done more side ways along the body, not over the shoulders. After he had done this for some 20-30 seconds he went back to the bowl and repeated the rotating after which he put in some more grasses. At first while remaining at the bowl and then by going out of it. The returned for a third time to the bowl, after he had walked away from it for a meter or more. When he finally left it for good he walked around in a worried manner, around
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SAM Verbeek. 1966 Calidris alba (3) lower back ruffled, neck withdrawn and bill pointing forward. This back was arched and I could hear no sound (I was about 50 m away). During all this time the female fed nearby (within 1 to 1.5 m from the nest). When I went over to the nest, there was more material in it than I could account for during this observation, suggesting that he had used this bowl before. On my way home I noticed a Sanderling chase a Bavid. The Sanderling flew low over the ground for some distance toward a Bavid which I had not seen till the time the flew away, chased by the Bavid, who made an aggressive loud ratting call. 20 June The nest contained no egg at 20:30. 21 June The nest was still empty at 24:00. The birds were no around the area at all 23 June Saw two Sanderling today, at the edge of where the drums and the meadow (drum pee) meet. At first I saw one bird, which I assumed to be the male. This bird flew, by himself, some 200 m into the meadow, and began to walk around as described on 17 June. This was strange as there was no second bird near him. He struts around with an arched back, bill pointing forward, tail down and the wing feathers spread. It looks very beligerent, and aggressive. One other sanderling, the female was feeding over a distance of some
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AM Verbeek 1966 Calidris alba (4) 40 m. for about 15 minutes. She fed very actively and this accompanied with the distance she fed over, indicates the presence of a nest. She then flew N and went W for some 300 m. For as far as I know the male was still to the E. by himself. At one time the female was chased by a semipal. The Sanderling on the hip trapping plot were not around The nest was still empty. 24 June. Two Sanderling were out on the High Polygon E. of Honey Brecket lagoon. I have seen them around there several times now. 25 June Steve and I noticed the male feed in company of two Pectorals and a Redback. At one point he chased the Pectorals in the air as well as on the ground. After a while the male flew off for some 300 m to the S. We went W. in search for a Baird nest which I had localized yesterday. I found the nest and then in the process of walking over to a second Baird nest I had localized yesterday, we saw a Sanderling walking thru the grass about 10 m from us. While we were discussing the oddity of this behavior and remarking on the light plumage of the Baird, we saw her take a few more steps and settle on her nest. She had four olive green eggs. A pretty sight. While we stood at the nest, about 4 m away, she walked right back on. The male by then had arrived to the scene and stood back about 15 m. 27 June Went to the Sanderling nest and took a picture of the bird on the nest thru the telescope, two of the nest and eggs and a picture of the distraction display. Across the gas line, between Micro Mat & AACS I noticed an other
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A M Verbeek. 1966 Calidris alba (5) bird, which I judged to be a female because of the small amount of brown around the head. After observing it for some 20 minutes, while it fed along the polygon ridges, the bird flew up and went for some 500 m in the direction of MicroMet where I lost it out of sight behind the buildings. 2 July The female was not on the nest at 14:15 - eggs (4) were in the nest. I found the female feeding S. of trapline IX a X roughly 350 m to the S. of the nest. At + 15:15 she was on the nest, sitting very tightly as I walked by. I have not seen the male since the day we found the nest, 8 days ago. 4 July The 4 eggs were present, no bird on the nest at 11:15 5 July Four eggs present, q not on the nest at 21:15. This is the second day now that she has not been on the nest, when I came by. 6 July There was one bird around a small pond in the Britton Area. I watched the bird feed for some 20 minutes along the pond edge and the meadow behind it. During half this time it fed in company of two Semipals. After the feeding it preened itself and then flew over Honey Bucket in the direction of the Drum Area. It looked like this bird was a male judging by the amount of brown around the head and neck. The male of the nesting cpair also showed more brown than the female. Could it be that this male I saw today is in effect the male of the nest? If he indeed goes this far away from the nest, it could explain why I have not seen him around for so long. 7 July When I arrived at the nest, 13:50 the q was not on, but the eggs were warm, so I stepped back prepared for a long wait. Fortunately at 13:55 she returned and walked to the nest.
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A.M. Verbeek 1966 Calidris alba (6) This bird, the female, and the only bird I have seen on the nest, has far less brown on the head than the male I saw yesterday. I noticed the male, feeding by him self, along the shore of Honey Bucket about 250 m. to the S. of the nest. 8 July Four eggs, q not on nest at 18:00 9 July Four egg q not on nest at 16:15. The female was about 50m to the N. standing on an oil drum. 10 July Steve and I took pictures of the female on the nest around 12:00 11 July Four eggs, q not on at 10:15. 12 July Found that 3 of the 4 eggs had hatched and one pipped egg in the nest. Collected two of the young after having take a picture of the birds in the nest. When I left the female settled on the one remaining egg and the young. Observation at 17:00. No male around. Prepared a skin of one of the birds (NAMU 1145). Found a partial egg shell about 45 m from the nest. Because of the difference in the amount of brown on the head, the female having less brown, I believe that only the female incubates in this species. 13 July Nest empty at 19:30. Did not see the adult or downies. 16 July Since they left the nest, I have not seen the Sanderling family again. 18 July Saw one Sanderling on the shimmocks S. of Honey Bucket lagoon. The bird no longer showed any brown on the neck, but instead a blackish mottled color. Obviously the bird was molting. See Baird notes of 19 July. 27 Aug. One bird approached me to about 3 m., while I walked along the beach across from the airport office.
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A M Verbeek 1966 Calidris pusillus (1) 6 June The first Semipalmated Sandpipers are back and they were actively displaying in the air, but not yet defending any territories. The males utter a strange gurgling sound, which reminds one of a motor of sorts. 8 June There were about 5 semipals, two of which formed a pair. This pair did much flying back and forth, which went accompanied by much chattering. 13 June Semipals seem to like to feed on disturbed areas and in other places where there is bare soil. 14 June Found two nests, each with 2 eggs along the new power line behind our laboratory. Both nests were on the side of a hummock on the edge of the bare top and the fringe of grasses. In both cases the female returned to the nest and settled on the eggs. When the first female flushed (I did not see her flush) and landed, the male flew over to her and I could see him flutter his wings in front of her. I did not see him cock his tail 15 June Both nests had 3 eggs. I flushed one of the females (of nest #1). She flew low over the ground and squared on a mound about 10 m from me. On this mound she crawled around with a hunched back so that the feathers of the lower back and rump were ruffled. The wings were drooped and ruffled too. At the same time she uttered squeedey noises, reminiscent of those of passerines in a similar situation. In any case not a type of sound which one would associate with a shore bird. The effect was that of a bird being injured.
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H Verbeek 1966 Calidris pusillus (2) Found one more nest with 3 egg (#3) at 21:00. In contrast to the previous two, this one was on flat ground among small clumps of mosses. The nest itself had a few bits of greases in it, but was otherwise quite untidy. It is interesting that all three nests found so far in this area have three eggs - it, the first of which must have been laid on Monday (10 June). The 12th was the first real warm day and during the three days following much snow melted. The nests were built on those places which were exposed before the big melt off 16 June Found another nest with 3 egg at 15:00. (#4). Noticed one bird feeding on a dense mat of pure moss. He was brusquely engaged picking things off the surface of the moss. When I chased him off I noticed, after staring at the moss for a minute or so, tiny, 4mm. long larvae collected some. The bird feeding on this produced feeding observation 218, 249 17 June Nest 4 had four eggs. 19 June Saw two males chasing each other on the edge of their territory. The boundary was apparently formed by the gas line, because when bird A went into territory B, about 5 m. beyond the gasline, the B turned around to chase A. In this manner they flew back and forth, flying as well over as under the pipe. 20 June Found one new nest #5 with 4 egg on the Beach Ridge. The female flushed like a confused ball of vibrating feathers and squeaks and left this up for some 25 m.
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NAM Verbeek 1966 Calidris pusillus (3) 26 June. The Semipals on the Drum Area seem to be less active these days, which may mean that the territories are more firmly established or perhaps it is merely the result of poor weather, which we have had for the last 3-4 days. 27 June. The Semipals on the Drum Area have definitely settled down. Only when you walk through the area do you provoke some chasing. 30 June Found one more nest (#7) with 4 eggs on the Drum Area, about 100 m. S of Nest #1. Earlier in the afternoon we finished a female of a nest with 3 eggs along the road between AACS and Micro Met. (#8) Found another new nest (#9) with 2 eggs at 22:00 (on the Drum area). Could this be a renesting? New nest (#10) on Drum Area E of Telephone pole 23 (29m). with 3 eggs. The nest with two eggs (#9) still has two eggs. Several 3 July. #5 nest has no eggs left. New nest 01:20 with 4 eggs. (Nest #11) on the Drum Area between telephone pole 14 x 15. 4 July Saw two birds, one with only one leg, feed on adult Chironomus larvae adults, as the latter were being washed in a shore of a small pond. Many of the insects had just hatched and were still attached to the pupal case. Two snowlantings were feeding their young from the same source. 5 July #2 - 4 young 20:50 in nest; #4 - 2 day young, 1 wet young (+ half shell), 1 egg; #1 nest empty; #3 - 4 day young. #9, 10, 11 eggs only.
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JAM Verleek 1966 Calidris pusillus (4). 7 July New nest #13 - 3 eggs W. of Sanderling nest. Many Semipals: the Drum Area act as if they have young. They seem to come much closer to you and their calls express less a feeling of distrust (which is typical when you are around a nest with egg) but instead a feeling of anxiety and care. 14 July #11, 2 day young, 1 wet shell, 1 egg 16 July There was one Semipal flying over the area near stake five on P's Census plot. The bird behaved such, that there must have been downies on the plot. 19 July Saw a Semipal engaged - the flight display. This is rather late in the year. I do not know what provoked it. 27 July At Meade River, along the W. shore of the large lake E. of camp I noticed several Semipals on the bare, sparsely vegetated bluffs. (Dryas flats) 28 July Noticed several Semipals feeding on the Dryas covered bluffs. The only thing conspicuous there were small 2 mm dipterans, of which I caught a few. Feeding observations 534- 538. 11 Aug. Back at Barrow, the Semipal was the second most common species today. They fed in small, rather loose flocks along the edges of ponds. There was much bickering among the birds and I also noted birds chasing each other. 13 Aug. Today I sat quietly among a mixed group of Semipals, Peetorals, Red Phalarope and Red backs. All these 4 species showed a great deal of nervous behavior in the form of running and short bursts of flight. The four species were also inter- and
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A M Verbeek 1966 Calidris pusillus (5) intra-specifically very aggressive. 17 Aug. This species continues to feed along pond edges exclusively. Caught an immature bird today (one broken wing) which still had matal down sticking to the tip of the feathers in her neck. The stomach was empty. 26 Aug. This species has been around since my last entry. Today I saw about 3 birds on the Drum Area. I did not see them on our weasel trip to Elson lagoon. 27 Aug. These birds are found in one place only - namely pond edges and disturbed areas where there is standing water. In their situations they feed on the edge of the water (seldom in the water) by jeeing for food. This seems to be the only thing they do these days. One could safely make the statement that Semipals in late August feed by jeeing in saturated pond edges. 29 Aug. There were still some Semipals around. I saw about 5 birds feeding along pond edges near the buildings.
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JAM Verbeek 1966 Calidris fuscicollis (i) 9 June About half way between Honey Bucket and and the Voth Slough we saw one White Rump this afternoon. The bird fed i company of two Red-backed Sand pipers and at on point he displayed to one of the Red-backs. Part of the display involved the cocking of his tail, while he faced the Red-back. 10 June Saw one pair at Honey Bucket (W side across road) and one pair 1 Mi. S. of Brant Point. In both cases the male went thru the tail up, wings spread performance, somewhat reminiscent of strutting sagehens or Ruff. I still have not seen the full performance. 20 June Heard one bird across Voth Creek at the Lake Eater polygons. 21 June One bird, presumably a male, chased a Semipalmated at the S. end of Pitella's Census Plot. 28 June One male "chased" a Baird S.E. of Tumblepink Lake at 22:15. The bird was making the poing-poing sound. 29 June One male displayed within 50 m of the CRREL Cabin. At one point his display was directed to a Red-back. 30 June One male gave the poign-poign call just of the Census plot at the CRREL Cabin. 3 July One male heard of P's plot at stake 16. 5 July One male heard about 700 m. NNW of P's plot. 9 July Not heard or seen during census of P's plot 14 July. Between North Meadow Lake and the Gasbine I noticed a female who behaved as if she had young. I sat back and after 10 minutes or so, I walked to the spot were she landed. I did not find a nest or young. The bird flew constantly around me and when I made sound imitating bird's distress
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NAM Verbeek 1966 Calidris baardi (1) 6 June In our explorations this morning, from between 09:00 ad 11:00 we saw or heard about a dozen Baard's Sandpipers. Some were engaged in the flight song which sounds louder and harsher than that of the Red-back, but it also has the frog-like quality, i.e. phonetically it has a lot of nothing r's. This afternoon - 16:45 to 17:45 Steve and I watched a pair of them. At first they stood quietly peering themselves. They then began to feed and we got some feeding data from them. 7 June. I observed one Baard's feeding on a bare patch of tundra. 8 June. Two Baard's fed company of 4 Red-backs along the W. shore of Honey Bucket lagoon. These are the only two birds I saw today. 9 June On the S. end of Beach Bridge I saw two Baard's. Steve and I saw them there before on 6 June. They seem to peek more than they jab. 12 June I observed a single male Baard's in the act of making a nest bowl, by pressing his chest into the ground and rotating himself. He then stepped out and picked up pieces of straw and lichen which he flicked sideways - the direction of the nest. Then he went back to the nest bowl and rotated some more, and he flicked some more pieces of grass while he was in the nest. He then walked out of the nest and was still flicking pieces of grass when he was about 40 cm away from the nest. When I walked over to the nest there were a few pieces inside the bowl.
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AM Verbeek 1966 Calidris bairdii (2) The area had just opened up from the snow, and it is thus possible that this male had just arrived and had claimed this patch as his territory. There was no female nearby, of which I am sure as I walked over the whole patch and those nearby. 15 June Baird Sandpipers must have moved in recently. They were the most active displayers today at the Drum Area. At times there were 3 males in the air, all singing at once, and not chasing at all. 16 June The Bairds are still much engaged in sexual chases, involving two males and a female. They are also brassily advertising their presence by display flying. 19 June The Bairds are still actively engaged with singing and chasing. Today I saw 5 birds in hot pursuit of each other. Who is who? If you follow such a chase you usually end up with two birds, suggesting that 4 males are in pursuit of a female. This female may be a recent arrival. 20 June Witnessed a fight between two males. I do not know what led up to the fight, but when I noticed the birds for the first time they were on ground jumping at and on each other. Several times one of the birds stood on the back of the other, while the bird at the bottom held its wings up. The strange thing of it all was the absence of a third bird. Also when the fight stopped the birds remained near each other and then flew off together. During the fight feathers were flying. It all had the appearance of copulation by force - rage on the tundra.
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A.M. Verbeek 1966 Calidris canadensis (3) 23 June. Found the first two Band nests, each with two eggs. The first one (#1) was in the Drum Area along side the gas line. The eggs were placed on some grasses on top of a polygon. The second nest was placed on a high polygon in a tuft of grass. This nest was located in the SE. corner of Honey Bucket Lagoon. The Bands were not very active displaying today, possibly because of the bad weather, but it could also be that they now have established territories and the two nests support this idea. 24 June Localized two nests today. In both cases the birds were creeeping in front of me, going thru the distraction display 25 June Found both nests today, #3, 4 each with 4 eggs. Also checked nest 1 and 2 and recorded nest #1 has 4 eggs and nest #2 has only 3 eggs. The female flushed of this nest. It was supposed to have a fourth egg today. Found another nest with 4 eggs in the afternoon (#5) W. of North Salt Lagoon. The nest was located on a high polygon 27 June New nest #9 with 4 eggs behind ATCS cabin. New nest #12 with 2 eggs along the gas line about 100 m. N of nest #1. 29 June New nest #13 about 50 m. SE of animal pens. (3 eggs) New nest #14 between telephone pole 11 & 12 on Drum Area (3 eggs) New nest #15 Drum area, about 200 m from telephone pole 21 (perpendicular to row of poles) 4 eggs. 1 July New nest #16 Drum area, about 19 M. E. of telephone pole 19 4 eggs at 21:15 New nest #17 Drum area about 4 M. N. of telephone pole 21
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A.H. Verbeek 1966 Calidris bairdi (4) 4 eggs at 22:00 2 July New nest (#18). Drum area, about 3 m. N. of telephone line between pole 2 x 3 (4 eggs). New nest (#19). Drum area, about 30 m. N. of telephone pole 7 (4 eggs). I determined the general locality of these nests once a day last night. The Bairds remain very quiet these days. I only heard two flight songs today, both in the Voth area. It could well be that they were provoked because of my presence on the area. New nest (#20). Drum area, about 88 m. N. of telephone pole 1 (4 eggs). The relative ease to find Baird's nests as opposed to Semipalmated Nests is an interesting interaction of several factors. The Semipalmated builds its nest among grasses and this both obscures the incubating bird but it also cuts down on its vision of approaching enemies. This bad feature is augmented by the fact that its mate warns the bird on the nest about danger and this combined with the small size allows the incubating bird to quietly sneak off the nest. The Baird Sandpiper builds its nest on an exposed place, usually free of grass. This allows the incubating bird to see approaching danger for a long distance, and the bird flies off its nest more often. In the Baird the warning system by the mate is not as well developed and in most cases when you stand around the nest you only see one bird; the female
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A.M. Verbeek 1966 Calidris bandii (s) 3 July Saw the first group of 6 Bairds feeding together and flying together. 5 July New nest #21. (4 eggs). 11:00 W. Shore of South Salt Lagoon near FAA Station New nest #22 (3 eggs) 11:00 W. shore of South Salt Lagoon E of #21. 6 July New nest #24 (3 eggs) 11:15 Beach Ridge near second ditch NW of P's plot. This bird was very "tame" and approached us to within 2 m. 7 July New nest #25 (4 eggs) Drum Area. about 6 m. W of Gasoline across from telephone pole 6. New nest #26 (4 eggs) Drum Area. about 90 m. W. of #15 8 July New nest #27 (4 eggs). S of Honey Bucket. Nest #15 lost all its eggs. When I found nest #27 there was guaranteed no second bird around, this i conviction with my note of 2 July. The female of nest #1 flushed right by my feet and kept close to me. She did this long enough so I could take a picture of her at a distance of 60 cm. 9 July New nest #29 (2 eggs). 68 m. W. of telephone pole 20 or Drum Area. 10 July Nest #3 hatched, and #1 not yet. On our hike to the Point I saw one Baird south of the abandoned village where there is some timber. This was only shore bird seen. 11 July Checked nests on the Drum Area. #2-3 eggs, #17-4 eggs, #9 Hatched, #8 4 eggs, #26 4 eggs, #27 4 eggs, #16 3v/1e, #28 -2 eggs
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A. M. Verbeek 1966 Calidris bairdii (6) #14 - 4 eggs, #11 - 4 eggs, #12 - empty, #19 - 3 eggs, #7 - 4 egg, #18 - 4 egg #20 - 4 eggs. Also #24 - 3 eggs at 17:30. 13 July #22 hatched, one young dead in nest, and one egg, which may have been the fourth egg in the clutch. This particular egg was almost completely hidden in the nest material. On opening it, the egg proved to be infertile. #18 - 4 young in nest at 22:00 #2 - nest empty at 19:45. 14 July #1 - 1 dry young, 1 wet, 2 eggs piped #4 - 2 dry young, 2 wet. 15 July New nests. #30 - 4 egg Elson Lagoon #31 - 4 egg Near CREL dam. #1 - 1 dry young in nest, + 1 piped egg. 16 July #28 - fledged. #7 - fledged. #8 - 3 wet young, 1 egg at 21:15. Incubation period for nest #1,8 is 20 days. 18 July #20 - 4 eggs; #13 - 4 eggs; #25 - 4 eggs, #17 - 4 eggs. Steve watched #13 for three hours and only saw the birds go off the nest twice for some 5 minutes at the time. He also saw two birds feeding nearby. I watched #25 for 3 hours and saw the incubating bird leave the nest once for 4 minutes. In addition I saw four other birds feed along the shallow pools, but none of them stuck around. At about 17:00 Steve collected the incubating bird of Nest 13 (weight 39.3 g Ovary 5x3) and also the bird of Nest #20 (weight 42.4 g Testes 1.3x1). Both birds had broadpatches and
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M Verbeek 1960 Calidris canutus (8) neighborhood of the nest, and is primarily concerned with feeding. The exposed position of the nest, does not necessitate his or her presence near the nest, to warm the incubating bird in approaching danger (See notes of 2 July). Why does the Semipalmated not do the same thing, or the Red-backed for that matter? It might well be that the Sanderling has a similar system of nest attendance. In the Sanderling I noticed only the female on the nest, whenever I checked the nest during the day. The male was around, on the shingly area at large, but not near the nest. It could well be that he incubated at night, allowing the female to feed. The Sanderling nest is exposed too, and this allows the incubating bird to get off the nest, without the necessity of being warmed by the mate. The nest at the CRRLE (#31) had four cold eggs and they as well as the nest were cold. So it seems that in this nest, and in the case of Nest 20, from both of which we shot the male, the female did not come back. Watched a bird, accompanied by three chicks from 15:50 to 17:50. During this time they were attended by one adult. This bird brooded the young for 9 minutes from 17:21 to 17:30. Then the adult and young fed for 3 minutes, after which the adult flew away from 17:33 to 17:37½. The adult flew away for a distance of some 75 m. On returning the bird brooded the young from 17:37½ to 17:46, after which they all fed again. Once, before I started recording time, the adult flew off, leaving the young alone for a while. I went back to this nest in the evening and shot the adult, which turned out to be a male (Testis 3½ x 1½, weight 29.4 (badly shrivelled)).
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M Verbeek 1966 Calidris bandi (q). After shooting the bird I watched the chicks for another hour. During this time no other adult showed up. From where I was sitting 40-50 m. I could hear the young peep. After half an hour, 21:40, the young stopped peeping and when I went over to the spot at 22:00 the three young were death. Air temperature at the ABB thermometer (near front door of office) was 42°F. Ground temperature must have been lower. This particular male I shot was not fat at all, except for some between the clavicles. While I was watching the chicks this afternoon I also kept an eye on #17. At one time I noticed two adults feeding together some worm from the nest. They flew up together, once, and landed again. After some more feeding one bird flew to the nest, the other flew away and I did not see it again. I watched this nest for two hours. Found #14 had hatched, one dead young in nest. #25, which I watched for three hours yesterday, had 3 day young and one wet one at 22:30 The Baird Sandpiper which Steve shot - Company of three chicks turned out to be a male. Two other birds, which he thought were associated with young (the latter were not found) turned out to be a male and female. In the afternoon I intended to shoot the incubating bird of Nest 17, but found the nest deserted. Nest 26 was robbed of its eggs. At Meade River, one bird on the census plot. 20 July 30 July
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A.M. Verbeek 1966 Calidris canutus (?) Both birds had an excessive amount of fat on the breast, back, thighs and between the claws - excessive for this time of the year and for an incubating bird. Checked the nests (#13,20) and found them unattended at 19:00. In the evening Steve and I went to the Dam at the CRRLE to watch both #20 and 31. Nest 20 proved to have been robbed, the other nest still had 4 eggs. I watched the bird on the nest from 20:10 to 21:40. It only left the nest once, from 20:46-20:50. At 21:40 Steve collected the bird and I then watched to see if there was a mate around to settle on the nest. I kept watching the nest till 23:00 and saw nor heard a second bird. The bird of nest #31 was a male (Testes 1.3x1) and weight 41.1g. This bird was not very fat. Went back to check nest #13 at 00:20 and found a second bird on the nest. Nest 20 did not have any bird on it. Steve and I went to the nest at 00:45 and shot the bird #13, which proved to be a male (Testes 3x1, 45.7g) in very fat condition. Checked both #13, and 20 this morning at 09:00 and saw no birds on either nest. It appears that in case of the Barrels, as has been found other shorebirds, both male and female incubate on one at the same nest, and they appear to do so in long stretches, at least 3 hours at the time, possibly longer. The extreme fat condition of the birds seems to indicate that they eat a great deal during the period off the nest. Once the bird is off the nest, and the mate starts to incubate, the former seems to disappear from the.
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A.M. Verbeek 1966 Calidris bairdii (w) 11 Aug. Back at Barrow, I failed to see a single Baird Sandpiper today. 24 Aug. Observed one bird feeding along a small pond. The bird fed by itself and did not mix with semipalmated Redbacks which fed in a nearby pond. This is the first Baird I have seen at Barrow in August. 26 Aug. Finished the mapping of the nest distribution on the Drum Area. With the exception of nest 7 x 18, all nests are anywhere from 75 to 150 step (±3 feet) apart or an average distance of 100 step (300 ft). Territory size - taking the nest as centre of the territory - is about 6.5 acres, about half the size as given for Red-backs (12-17 acres) by Holmes.
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NAM Verbeek 1966 Distances between Drum Area nests. Distances between pole 1 x 2 - 45 step 2 x 3 39 3 x 4 40 Row of old poles 10 steps E. of new poles Distance between pole 4 x 5 28 step Distances between new poles 35 step. Nest b 20 - 87 step from pole 1 ad 4 to pole b 18 between pole 2x3, 20 from pole 2 ad 4 from line of poles p 3 " 3x4, 4 from 3 ad 8 from line b 7 " 3x4, 60 from 3 ad 33 from line p 1 " 4x5, 9 from 5 ad 64 from line b 19 " Land 27 from pole 7 p 9 " 1 ad 50 from pole 11 a 12 " 13x14, 10 from 14 ad 21 from pole line b 8 " 14x15, 14 from 15 ad 1 line with poles p 11 " 14x15, 14 from 15 and 15 from line b 16 " 18x19, 8 from 19 ad 19 from line b 28 " 1 ad 67 from 18 b 17 " 20 x 21, 4 from 21 ad in line a 11 " 22x23, 20 from 22 p 10 " 1 ad 29 from 23 b 14 " 11 x 12, 19 from 12 ad 3 from line b 13 " 1 x 2, 67 from line distance from pole 1 = gas line b 25 between pole 6 a 7, 8 from gas line and between poles p 2 between pole 8 x 9, 50 from poles, 8 from pole 9 p 7 between pole 6 x 7, 56 from poles, 5 from pole 6
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JAM Verbeek 1966 Calidris melanotos (1) 7 June. While at the Voth area, where I observed some 40 Red-bached Sand pipers, the first Peetoral of the season came over. It flew in a erratic pattern, diving and rising as it went, much like the flight of a Snipe (except for the diving and rising). 8 June. There were two Peetorals at the entrance of Voth Slough into Honey Bucket lagoon. I noticed one other pair over at Wohlschlag Slough. These were the only two pairs I saw to day - all the areas I checked. 10 June About 1 Mi.S. of Brant Point I witnessed the display of the Peetoral Sand piper. A fascinating display indeed. The bird jumps up in the air and flip-flop along much like a Short-eared Owl. At the same time this breast is puffed up and he makes a series of booming noises - umb - umb - umb. When this has been repeated several times - up to 10 or more he continues for a variable distance rising and dipping down in an undulating fashion, after which he settles down. There was a pair of these birds out there. 12 June Not seen to day: Yesterday I only saw one bird. 14 June North of Wohlschlag Slough we saw two birds flying over. The male gave 5 or 6 booming calls. There seem to be 3 pairs now - One on Beach Ridge, one in the Britton Area and one at Wohlschlag. 15 June Heard a saw one male over the Drum Area 16 June Saw one pair flying over the N. end of the Drum Area. They came from the South and I followed them over Honey Bucket lagoon and then Back South, where I lost them over
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AM Jerbeek 1966 Calidris melanotos (2) North Meadow lake. While they were flying the male shouted several times, usually about 5-6 shouts at the same time and he did it three times during the time I saw them. 17 June. Saw a male near tag line gate and shortly thereafter a female who was badly limping on one leg. I think I have localized the nesting area, but it is possible the female behaved the way she did because of her injury. 19 June 20 June. Saw two birds at the Lake Bater and two males feeding together at 20:30 on the Drum Area. On my way home there was a third bird feeding - the Drum Area. 21 June Peetoral sandpipers have been moving in lately. Saw a chase involving four birds this morning at 06:15 and later on I saw 2 birds (♂'s) and a single ♀ feeding in Holmes Moor. There are many more ♂'s than females; of the 8 I saw only one was a female. Saw a pair at the Voth Area at 17:15. 23 June Saw four birds today, all males. 24 June A group of four males stood together on a hummock. At times, they would fly up and circle around and then land again together. On my way back from Elson lagoon about 15 Peetoral Sandpipers flew over. They flew in a loose flock but stayed together. Since they were rather far away and since it took me sometime to poke my head through the bushes in the weasel I am only guessing at the identification. Steve too thought they were Peetorals. I did not see a single female today. The males are not
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NAM Verbeek 1966 Calidris melanotos (3). Very active either. It is possible that the windy cold weather was more conducive to display, but it is more likely that the almost complete absence of females so far is the reason for the apparent passive behavior of the males. 25 June No birds seen on afternoon trip. This area North and N.E. of Pitelka's Census Plot is rather low and marsh, with lots of pools especially in the W and N. In spite of these ideal conditions there were no Peetraals at all. 26 June Noticed a group of five males standing in the meadow behind AACS. 28 June Saw a group of 37 peetraals at 22:00 in the meadow SE. of Imikipuke lake. They were spread out over a distance of some 30 m. Some birds fed but most of them just stood facing the wind. When a Black phase Parasitic Jaeger flew over, the whole flock took off. 29 June. Saw several small groups of 5,6 birds to day. One such group fed together across the road from AACS. This morning there was some shooting activity in Holmes Morass, and on one occasion there, I saw a male and female fly together. The group at AACS consisted of 3 males and 2 females. 30 June There was a great deal of activity on Pitelka's plot this morning, as small flocks, from 2 to 30 birds, kept flying back and forth. They feed in the marsh and use the Bridge to rest. I only saw two females for sure. There was no sexual chasing or any display-ing among the males 3 July There was only 1 Peetral (perhaps) at the N end and 3 birds of the census plot at the S. end. This is quite inconsistent with the 30 June
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AM Verbeek 1966 Calidris melanotos (4) Yesterday I did not see any Peetralb. It seems that the 30th of June birds were part of a wave which only stayed around a few days and moved on again. Hiked across Central Marsh from the Old CREEK road to the Beach Ridge and saw respectively group of 2, 4, 3 and 2 Peetralb for a total of 12 birds. Saw a flock of about 45 birds at 21:30 S. of the CREEK Calm. The birds were sleeping, standing behind hummocks and facing the wind. The group obtained the size of 45 as more and more smaller groups settled near the birds that were already on the ground. 5 July A flock of 9 and a flock of 7 E. and S. of South Salt Lagoon respectively. They were not feeding, just standing around. Did not see any birds in the afternoon in the Meadows N. of Beach Ridge and E. of North Salt Lagoon. 6 July. Only small groups of Peetralb moved over P's plot. About 200 m. N. of the fork in the road in the Lake Estuary a female Peetral began flying around me in a nervous manner. After breaking away for some room she kept coming back to the same spot - the meadow. On my second trial in going to this spot I found two downy young, huddled together. They were at least about 2 days old. 9 July Not seen all day 11 July A large scattered flock (±50 birds) on the W. side of Gasoline Ridge. I could not get much info on sex because of the sun which stood low at the horizon (21:30). One small flock of 12 birds consisted of 6's only. The birds were feeding from the
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A.M. Verbeek 1966 Calidris melanotos (5) surface as far as I could see. They were very weary especially so since a Turnstone kept alarming them. 13 July. Small groups - 2 to 6 birds along the S. side of South Salt Lagoon. 14 July Not seen to-day 15 July A flock of 12 birds on the slope leading from P's plot to Holmes Mores. Also one bird at Gaschire Bridge. 16 July The Peetoral situation brightened up to-day. On P's plot I saw several flocks, one of 25 birds. All others were smaller. I never saw them do anything but stand around, but this is probably due to my presence. 19 July No Peetorals on P's plot during the census and no Peetorals seen on my hike from N.Rh over the Beach Bridge to the CAREL dam. 20 July Saw a flock of 18 birds in the meadows S. of lines IX & X, and an other flock of 7 birds. These flocks later fed and moved about with 12 Golden Plovers and a Ruddy Turnstone Noticed a Peetoral flying about me in the Voth Area not far from where the road goes thru the slough toward the gaswell. The bird no doubt had young in the neighborhood. 22 July At Meade River, found the nest located by Paul de Benedick's The bird flushed from right underneath my feet. She still had your eggs. 23 July There are many more Peetorals than at Barrow and also their birds are not seen in flocks but singly and at least three of them I saw today behaved as if they had young. 25 July Checked the nest again (see 22 July) and saw the female
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NAM Verbeek 1966 Calidris melanotos (6) still incubating. I did not flush her. 27 July Checked the Pectoral nest again. The female flushed ahead of us. There were still four eggs. 28 July Female still incubating at 23:30. 30 July At 14:00 still incubating. I did not flush the bird. 31 July At 21:00 nest empty. The female was about 20 m. S. of the nest and flew about me excitedly. 1 Aug. Found the 4 chicks and the female about 100 m from the nest. 11 Aug Back at Barrow, I found the Pectorals to be the most abundant shore bird, as well on the Drum Area as on Gasbine Bridge. It was impossible to get an idea about numbers, since small group of 5 to 8 birds were constantly flying around. The birds were very curious, alighting very close to me. Among the members of a flock there were several individuals who where rather aggressive, chasing others on foot. The birds which Steve has been collecting recently where all juveniles 13 Aug See entry under C. pusillus for this date 17 Aug There were distinctly fewer Pectorals around than on 11 Aug. I about 3 hours time I saw about 20 birds on the Drum Area at large 26 Aug There were still some pectorals around today, but their numbers were very small. Saw one bird sleeping on the Beach Bridge and there were two birds on the Drum Area.
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J.A.M. Verbeek 1966 Callidris alpina.(1) 3 June Out on Beach Ridge we saw the first Red backs - some 3 pairs. The males were actively flying and chasing each other. 4 June In the same area as above we saw the same number of birds, about 10 (70?) 6 June Red backs moved since we went out last, along with some other shore birds. When we went out in the late afternoon to Beach Ridge we only saw one Red back. 7 June This afternoon Steve and I went to Voth Area where we saw several flocks of Red backs. In one I counted 17 birds and in addition there were pairs sitting on the tundra making a total of about 30 birds. The flock stayed more or less together although there was some chasing going on. There were probably birds that had been here a few days. In the evening we saw a flock of some 50 birds at about 21:00. Many of them stood facing the wind with their bills inclined under a wing. The whole day long there was a cold E wind. 8 June Red backs continued to be the most common shore bird. So far. They are all over the tundra. In some cases they appear to be paired, in other cases they feed together in groups of 4 to 6 and also there are some single birds around. Even so often two males in a communal group start to chase each other. Often too, some single male lands near a paired couple and this too results in a wild chase. Today I noticed how one such single male when he approached a couple did not settle but continued to fly. The male of the paired couple struck one wing
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NAM Verbeek 1966 [illegible] 10 June A Red Back was feeding along the edge of a bare patch when a Peetral landed within a meter of him. The Red back flew up and chased the Peetral away and this chase continued in the air for some 60-100 m., after which the Red back returned to feed in the general area from where the chase began. In the afternoon I saw a Red Back chase a Peetral at Elson Lagoon. 11 June. Observed the copulatory behavior of Red backs to day. The female stood on the edge of a snow patch when the male approached her by flying to her from some distance. He stood diagonally behind her and kept his wings outstretched horizontally. This tail was kept horizontally, not cocked thus. This lasted about 8 seconds after which he approached her with his wings held vertically above him. Still diagonally behind her on the right side and with his wings up he made a small step forward and then backward, rocking back and forth in this manner for ±5 seconds. He then stretched his left leg and touched her back. When she seemed responsive to this he mounted beating his wings all the time in a 45° angle. He remained in this position, calling excitedly for a full minute. After this period the female responded by tipping her body forward and the male made an attempt to make cloacal contact, in which he failed I think. The female then walked from under out of hair and ruffled her feathers.
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NAM Verleek 1966 Calidris alpina (3) A male chased a ? hong spurn on two occasions to day west of Honey Bucket. The chase lasted in about 15 m. i each case. 15 June. The Red-Backs were quiet today. It seems that their territories are established and they are fully occupied incubating In the 3.5 hours I was - the field (Drum Area) I only heard one male snig (only one) and I saw one other bird. 16 June. Pitelka and I found one nest between South Salt Lagoon and Honey Bucket Lagoon. There were four eggs. The nest was located on the edge of a mount among 9-10 cm high dead gaps. 17 June We found two more Redback nests each with 4 egg, on the drum area. 18 June Witnessed a chase involving three Redbacks, 2? ?, q. At the end of the chase the three birds landed and the male engaged in a physical battle. Saw one male, the owner of the female pull at a feather of his opponent, who by this time tried to go away and when he managed to pull free he flew away leaving the pair behind. 19 June I flushed the female of Nest . Her distraction display - one in which the tail is spread and depressed, the rump and lower back feathers are ruffled, the wings droop and the bird walks with small step - a crowded manner. While she thus walks away from you she throws glances over her shoulder to left ad right and she utters a hoars sneezy barrage of pathetic notes.
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NAM Verbeek 1966 Calidris alpina (4) 27 June Found a nest with 4 eggs behind the AACS hut (the sheet iron one). Below the telephone line (#11) 2 July New nest (#12) with 4 eggs on the Drum Run. m E of telephone pole. This bird has escaped me for over 3 weeks now. Its eggs should hatch any day now. The nest is located in the center of what used to be a small bare patch in a snow field. 3 July. New nest (#13) with 4 young at the N.E. of P's plot. The three nests on P's plot all had hatched y.g.to-day. If one nest (#10) one egg had not hatched and the three young of this nest were about 25 m to the E. of the nest. Nest #2 still had 4 eggs at 22:00, all other nests on P's plot (1,10,13) were empty. 4 July #6, 11, 12 all eggs present. 5 July #6 - 3 day y.g., 1 egg 21:30. #11,12 all eggs present. 6 July #2 empty except for one egg. Probably left nest yesterday or perhaps early this morning. None of the other Redbacks usually seen on P's plot were present to-day. I guess they either lost their y.g. or took them to the marsh. #8 - 3 young (day) + 1 egg i. nest at 17:00 7 July #6 nest empty, parents around and excited. 9 July Noticed a feeding Redback to-day which did no jollying at all during the 9 x 30 sec. I observed her. Part of the time she was feeding along the shore of a puddle and part of the time in tall grass (4"). Along the shore she was pecking food, like a semipalmated plover, but out in the grass
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AM Verbeek 1966 Calidris alpina (5) the bird was gleaning food from the grass as well as picking food from the ground. Gleaning, I have observed R. Phalaropes do for some time now, 15 July. There was a flock of 12 birds around me, when I sat near a Golden Clover nest. These birds may have come in response to the noise made by the Clovers. Saw two birds probing for food - a shallow pool. At this, the head went under water. When I checked the pool I found the mud to be very loose sloppy material. 26 July At Meade River I saw few Red backs the last days. Today, along the shores of a large lake, ± 2 Mi.S. of the camp, I saw a small group, ±7 birds. These birds probably congregated because of my presence which was being announced by a Ruddy Turnstone. 5 Aug. There are very few Red backs left around here. During a 3 km walk I only saw one adult and two fledglings feeding along the edge of a pond. 11 Aug Back at Barrow, the Red backs were the third commonest bird to-day. Most birds seen where juveniles, with the spotted breasts. In some instances they associated with the flocks of Pectorals. 13 Aug. See entry under C. pusillus for this date 17 Aug The most common shore bird to-day 22 Aug At Meade River, I saw two birds feeding (jalling) in the sand along the river. These two birds were immatures. 26 Aug Back at Barrow, the Red backs are still present. These are mainly immatures, but I did see at least two adults. 29 Aug Red-backs were the most common bird to-day. During
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I AM Verbeek 1966. 26 June. Calidris ferruginea At, the junction of the road to the gas well and the Village Ridge in the Cake Rater Area I noticed a bird feeding company of a Baird Sandpiper. The bird was darker on the back than a Baird and had a dark brick red chest and neck. It could be nothing else but a Curlew Sandpiper, which identification was confirmed by Steve and Tom, who happened to come by in the weasel. The bird was very actively feeding and then flew S for some 400 m where we lost it out of sight in the fog.
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NAM Verleek 1966 Tryngites subaureicollis 13 Aug. Steve found one of these birds today and called me over to see it. It was a juvenile with yellow legs, a bulky head and neck, and dark scales on the back and wings. The bird was of Pectoral Sandpiper size and the latter species was nearby in comparison. The head of the bird reminded Steve of that of a pigeon, while I noted its plower like habit of walking and standing, although this habit was not as rigid as in a real plower. Steve found the bird at Gas mine Ridge. 15 Aug. Steve shot a juvenile male today.
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NAM Verbeek 1966 himnnochomus scolopacens (I) 14 June. Observed two birds at Elson hagoon, N of Wholschlag slough. When I first saw them they stood sleeping on top of a polygon. Then when I flushed them they flew over to a inundated meadow where they fed along the shallow shore. 21 June. One bird circled around me at 05:30 and settled at about 30 m, apparently out of curiosity. His appearance was being investigated by a Turnstone who came over from about a 1/4 of a mile away and settled about 1 m. from the Dowitcher. It is possible that the turnstone merely came over to check me out, although I had left his territory some time earlier. At Elson hagoon a second Dowitcher flew around me and landed nearby. I again had the impression he was checking me out. 27 June. Saw three fly over the W. end of Gasoline Ridge. At least one of the birds gave a yodling type of call, which I did not hear before 29 June. Three birds over Holmes Morass and then later on two birds SE. of the CRREL Cabin. 30 June. One bird on Pitillias Census plot and an other one flying over. 3 July. Four birds were feeding in Central Marsh. 6 July. One and later two birds flew over P's plot this morning. The single bird was a male who briefly performed a flight display accompanied by the garbled song. 23 July. At Meade River I saw at least two females flying about one west of camp in the wet, low parts of the tundra.
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AM Verbeek 1966 Limnodromus scolopaceus (2) 26 July. At 18:30 I found a bird with one young, after I had waited about 30 minutes at some distance. While I was taking pictures of the chick (<2 days old) I heard a second chick calling from the edge of the marsh. Took several pictures and collected one of the young. If I am not mistaken this is the first breeding record for Nead River. Later in the evening, 22:00 I went across the river with Tom to check a bird he had seen there, which turned out to be an other Longbilled Dowitcher. This bird behaved as if she had young too. Roger tells me, that on the day he photographed the Caribou, 24 July, he noticed three females, which according to him behaved as if they had eggs or young. 27 July. Prepared the skin of the downy young (NAMU 152). 17 Aug. Back at Barrow, heard and saw one bird fly over the Drum Area. 24 Aug. Seven birds flew over the Drum Area. 25 Aug. Saw a total of 8 birds in the Britton Area feeding along pond edges. 26 Aug. Observed a flock of 28 birds feeding along pond edges on the Drum Area. When a plane flew over, all Dowitchers in the area flew up; an estimated total of 200 birds. They were the most common shore bird on the study area. 29 Aug. Saw only one bird today. It fed along a ditch near the Radio Shack.
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NAM Verbeek 1966 Phalaropus fulicarius (l) 9 June. The first 2 birds of the season flew by me as I stood watching Red-backs feed on the edge of the W. side of Footprint Lake. The phalaropes appeared dark thru my sunglasses but when I got the three binoculars I could see the warm brick red color. The continued flying against the wind till out of sight. One of the birds was definitely a female, and I think the other was too. 10 June At least two groups of Red Phalaropes moved past me at Elson Lagoon. One flock counted 10 birds the other was of about similar size. They stick together as a flock. Toward 17:00 we saw one wading in a flooded part of the tundra. 11 June There were less Phalaropes today than yesterday. At Honey Buckets Lagoon I saw only 4 birds this morning, while Steve and I saw only bird, a female, at Elson Lagoon. 12 June Took 3 phalarope pictures today. They are very tame and I took one picture by slowly walking up to them to within one meter. The male was more cautious and could not be approached to within 1.75 m. In the middle of Central Marsh there were 5 birds feeding in shallow water. Three of these were females. At one point there were two females and a male feeding together, although it was obvious that one of the females was mated to the male. The other female was not chased away. 19 June Found a nest with 4 eggs near the mouth of Voth Slough. The male flushed in front of me and walked away from the nest beating his wings above him at an angle of 45° to the horizontal, in the meantime calling the nasal tweet tweet
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AM Verbeek 1966 Phalaropus fulicarius (3) alarm note. There was no female around. 20 June It looks like several phalaropes are still in the process of egg laying for I still see them flying around together. Also whenever I come near what appears to be the nest the female comes around and makes the prip, prip note. 21 June Found another nest (#2) with 3 eggs at Elson Lagoon. The male flushed at about 2 m from me. The absence of a female, or in general a mate who warns the incubating bird of the approach of a predator, does not allow the phalarope to leave his nest ahead of time. Also, his nest is more concealed, so that he has not quite as good a view of his surroundings. You therefore almost have to flush the bird if you want to find him. 22 June Near the Old Gas Well, between the two Footprint Lakes, we noticed a Red Phalarope in winter plumage, except for the base of the bill, which was yellow and for a few brown edged feathers on the lower abdomen. Steve collected it for its stomach. I prepared the skin. NAMJ 144. 23 June Noticed a flock of four females today 25 June Saw three join in the afternoon, which probably means they are still laying eggs. 27 June I think nest #1 is deserted. This probably occurred when I found the nest 19 June. 29 June A male flushed from a nest with 4 eggs on Pitelka's Plot (Nest #3). It seems there are even fewer phalaropes around these days. Perhaps some females have already departed, while at the same time males are incubating
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A M Verbeek 1966. Phalaropus fulicarius (3) 30 June New nest (#4) with 4 eggs between North Meadow Lake ad South Meadow Lake. This morning on Pitelka's plot there were one pair and one single male feeding by himself. Then a female landed near the male and the female, and this new female was chased away by the paired male. He chased her off twice by fluttering just above the water near his own female. The intruding female then took off. The single male minded his own business. 1 July Saw a flock of 7 p feeding in Central Marsh this morning and a flock of 8 q along the S shore of Wohlschlag Slough. 3 July Noticed a 8 q on P's plot right in the middle of a grassy (shot grass) spot. They were joined here by a second q which was driven off by the 8. This activity was near Stake 4, the same place as on 30 June. This male ought to have a completed cloche by now. Why does he keep a female around and why do they walk so mysteriously thru what obviously is not Phalaropus habitat? Saw a flock of 12 p in the middle of Central Marsh. They all flew up when a black phased Parasitic Jaeger flew over 5 July New nest (#6) with 4 eggs on Beach Ridge near road. The bird on this nest was far very brightly colored for a male. 6 July New nest (#7) with 4 eggs on P's plot near Stake 5 & 6. 7 July Nest #1 had 2 dry young and 2 wet ones. I thought, at one time that this nest was deserted. Found a new nest at the W. end of Trap line X. (4 eggs) Saw a flock of 12 phalaropes, presumably q p, over the Danna Area Could not see sex because of fog.
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AM Verbeek 1966 Phalaropus fulicarius (4) Nest #3 on P's plot had 4 day young this evening at 21:00. Nest #7 had not hatched yet. #8 not hatched yet. 0 July 9 July #9, New nest, 4 eggs 70 m. N. of P's plot. Did not see any female Phalarope today. 11 July #8 fledged. Saw two g to-day. I think they left for good on 7 July. Not so, this evening on the Gashie Bridge I saw a flock of 6 females. New nest (#10) with 4 eggs about 25 m. N. of #9. Nest #6 had 3 day young and 1 egg at 17:30. 14 July #7 - 4 eggs at 17:15, #9 fledged #10 fledged. Found a male and 3 young (still carried white egg teeth) about 30 m. E. of #10. 15 July There were at one time at least 6 of flying around me in Holmes Minas. I assume they had chicks and were disturbed by my presence. Nest #2 had fledged except for one egg. 16 July Nest #7 not hatched yet at time of census of P's plot. 19 July Nest #7 hatched. The young were about 25 m. N. of the nest along a stagnant ditch Nest #6 had one unhatched egg in the nest cup. 26 July At Meade River, not as common a species as the Northern Phalarope. Only saw two males during a 5 hour hike. 27 July Chased a long-tailed Jaeger and forced him to drop a fledgling Red Phalarope with its primaries still 1/2 cm in the sheaths. 11 August. Back at Barrow I only saw about 6 Phalaropes all day.
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NAM Jerleek 1966 Stercorarius pomarinus June 3 We saw one single bird flying across our snow-cat. It flew in a straight line east ward. June 6 Saw one dead bird on the tundra. Probably died last year. 8 June. One bird flew south along the w. shore of Elson hagoon. When I noticed the bird for the first time it was being chased by a shorebird, which according to Pitelka was probably a Buddy Turnstone 9 June Two more birds flew SW over the Voth Creek area. I don't know what they are looking for, there seems nothing else to eat for them at present. 10 June Five jaegers flew over Home's Morass as we stopped on Pitelka's plot. At one point they all sat on the ground. We could not see what they were feeding (if they were feeding) or.. 11 June Five jaegers flew over Honey Bucket lagoon. They could well be the same birds we saw yesterday. Saw three more at Uhipic Slough and later one another single bird. 12 June One single bird flew over Central Marsh. 13 June Noticed one running bird on the ground, walking along a manow-shy of grass surrounded by water and snow. Maybe it was scavenging 17 June Three birds over Honey Bucket Lagoon 18 June One bird flew over Honey Bucket and was being chased by 6 Buddy Turnstones. 5 July Three birds over the E. Shore of Natt Salt lagoon. 9 July One bird flew over P's plot this morning 17 Aug. We saw 2 birds and later on a third on flying over
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NAM Verbeek 1966 Stercorarius parasiticus 11 June Twobrids (dark phase) flew over Central Marsh at 23:30. 12 June Threebrids, one dark phase, flew over Central Marsh. I don't know what they are doing here, there seems as yet nothing to eat. 13 June Again twobrids (one dark phase) 20 June Twobrids have been hanging around lately. Saw twobrids over the Drum Area 30 June Three Parasitic Jeagers walked slowly along the W side of Gashbine Bridge 9 July A group of 12brids in company of some 50 Glaucous Gulls feeding: Central Marsh 11 July Saw a flock of 22brids on P.S. plot at 17:00. There were several hong birds among the. On this short trip to the plot the jeagers were the most common species around. Threebrids on the meadow S. of Honey Bucket. 19 July Saw one Parasitic Jeager give chase to a fledgling Snow Bunting, but the latter escaped among some barrels. 24 July At Meade River. Saw twobrids repeatedly dive at a sparrow sized bird, which had ventured too far away from the willows along the river. They finally caught it. 28 July Severalbrids gathering the river. They feed on the caribou skull which Jim left along the beach. 27 Aug. A few Jeagers have been with us at Barrow in the last few weeks. Today I saw one at Duck Camp. 3 Sept. One bird flew past me at Voth Creek
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NAM Verbeek 1966 Stercorarius longicaudus 14 June While Steve and I were observing the Ruddy Turnstones on the W. side of Elson Lagoon, a longtailed Jaeger. The Turnstone - 5 of them - chased the Jaeger by making much noise and by diving at it. 21 June One bird over the shore of Elson Lagoon 5 July One bird over North Salt Lagoon 9 July Three birds over South Salt Lagoon at 19:30 15 July One bird S. of Honey Bucket Lagoon 17 July Many longtails in Central Marsh and Holmes Morass. 19 July A flock of seven and two birds over P's census plot during the afternoon censuses. 26 July At Meade River, one bird along the river at 22:30. 27 July Chased a bird off its prey, which turned out to be a Red Shalarope fledgling with the primaries still 1½ cm in the sheaths. 24 Aug. Back at Barrow, I saw one bird hovering over the tumcha in the Cake Eater area.
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NAM Verbeek 1966 Larus hyperboreus (1) June 3 I observed a group of some 50 of these large gulls as the congregated on a trail left behind by a snow-cat. They all appeared to be adult birds (90% adult) and I noted quite a bit of display among them, such as the "long call". Steve says they hang around all year and do not breed. June 4. The gulls seem to have their favored areas where they congregate. One of these is behind the houses south of town and an other is on the frozen ocean west of Town. They sit out there is small noise brush. Where they actually feed I do not know, but garbage is probably important. 10 June. There are distinctly less gulls around at the moment. 15 June Saw only two gulls to-day 23 June On South Salt lagoon I saw about 40 Glaucous Gulls resting along the beach. 6 July About a dozen birds feeding in Central Marsh in company of 6 Parasitic Jaegers. 9 July About 40-50 birds feeding in Central Marsh. Wonder what they are feeding on. 18 July. Noticed 9 gulls roosting on the S. shore of Wohlschlag Slough on a gravel bar (23:00). 26 July At Meade River there are about 3 or four birds flying over the tundra around our camp. 31 July There are at least 50 gulls feeding on caribou remains left behind after the animals were shinned out yesterday. Without the presence of this hunting camp, there would probably be few gulls.
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NAM Verbeek. 1966 Xema salini 22 June We saw at least two of these birds at Ebrovik. We collected one bird on the edge of a stream, later on, on our way back there was an other bird on the same spot. The stream was shallow there so that grasses stick out of the water. Perhaps this grass acted as a strain. 25 July At Meade River I saw two birds, about 3 km S.E. of Camp. 26 July One single bird about 2 km S. of camp. 17 Aug. Back at Barrow, we saw several large flocks of adults and immatures along both sides of the sand spit leading to Point Barrow. This is apparently a favorite place, rich in food, for the gulls have been gathering here for at least a week. 27 Aug. One bird along the beach. 3 Sept. Small flocks of these gulls flew along the shore towards Duck Camp. I saw the same movement of birds yesterday. A large concentration, mostly immatures at Point Barrow. There were an estimated 500 birds.
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NAM Verbeek 1966 Sterna paradisaea 14 June While Steve and I were on the west side of Elson lagoon mouth of Wohlschlag, we saw two birds fly over. Later on, we saw two more over Pitelka's Plot. 16 June Saw one bird flying NE along the shore. 22 June One bird flew along the shore over the open water of Ikoravik 30 June One single bird flew S. along Pitelka's Plot. 5 July One single bird over S. Salt Lagoon 10 July Four birds N. of Airport along the lagoon. 18 July One bird over Wohlschlag Slough at 22:30. 25 July At Meade River I saw several times. At one point the birds were dive bombing Tom Custer, which probably meant that they had young nearby. 23 Aug Seven birds flew over camp at Barrow. 16 Aug 22 birds over the Drum Area. 17 Aug Several hundred birds, adults and immatures were brusly feeding in the waters on both sides of the spit of sand leading to Point Barrow. 22 Aug At Meade River, Paul and I saw one immature bird and 3 adults. The immature still lacked the long external tail feathers. It also begged for food. 23 Aug Back at Barrow, I noticed a flock of 28 birds flying high over our laboratory. 27 Aug Terms keep flying back and forth over the barz. They are usually a group of 5 to 20 birds. Both immatures and adults flock together. 3 Sept It looks like these birds have pulled out of this area. At the Point there were perhaps 50 birds left.
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H. Verbeek 1966 Cephus grylle 17 Aug. Probably a new breeding bird for the Barrow Area. Murrel Salomonson found the bird nesting in an oil drum on 14 August, while he was hunting seals near the old village of Nuvuk inside the lagoon. The nest, with one whitish egg with dark spots on it, was located in the right hand corner of a partially flattened oil drum, which had a slit in one end which gave entrance to the drum. The opening faced SE and the drum lay on a sandy part of the narrow sandy spit. When we got nearly, after beaching the Umiale, the bird flew of the nest and circled around as a few times before landing nearly in the ocean. This circling and landing was performed once more. When we departed the bird went back in the drum again. On our way to the nest, when we were still on the water some 500 m from the nest, we saw one Cephus grylle, which was almost certainly a second bird, and while we tried to photograph the nest, the Eskimo boys claimed to have seen two birds to the north of the nest along the beach, giving a total of 3 to 4 birds (including the nesting bird) in the area. The Eskimos say that this species occurs in the off shore waters all winter long. 3 Sept. I revisited the above nest, after we had been told that some Eskimo boys had shot the adult bird a few days ago. They shot it because they had never shot such a bird before! The egg lay near the entrance of the drum. The young bird inside appeared to have reached the hatching stage. I collected the egg, which was partially cracked, probably
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SAM Derbeek 1966. Nyctea scandica 27 Aug. Bob lewellen claimed to have seen 3 birds in the Cake Eater Area. 28 Aug. I checked the area today and saw no owls. 2 Sept. Bob lewellen claimed to have seen one bird in the early afternoon in the same area as above. 3 Sept The Pomarine Jaeger has been shown to be the main predator of lemmings, breeding in greater densities in peak years as compared to low years. It seems strange then that in the early part of the arctic summer this year, a low year for lemmings, we saw Pomarines quite frequently, while Snowy Owls were absent. Do owls have a better mechanism to measure the presence of lemming or where the Pomarines merely wandering immature?
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AM Verbeek Motacilla flava. 23 July At Meade River I noticed group of three or four birds along the river bluff. One bird flew with food in its bill and was obviously feeding young. All young, however, were able to fly I think, as I did not flush or see any that did not fly. 29 July Yellow Wagtails are molting now. Tom caught one with fresh flight feathers but with the body molt incomplete. Another one had a stub tail 23 Aug The wagtails were no longer at Meade River.
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NAM Verbeek. 1966 Calcanius lapponius (1) June 3 Away from the buildings, out on the newly exposed patches of tundra I saw my first hayland longspurs. Brightly colored birds with yellow beaks and much chestnut. Most birds seemed to be paired, although there were some single males. Some males went thru the flight display. June 4. One more day of thawing has doubled the exposed patches of tundra and there were clearly more longspurs around today. June 5. Observed one pair of birds - B a q, feeding on an exposed land. They seek food of the ground like most seed eating birds but these two birds also hacked freely - to the ground and they flicked their heads side ways so that small pieces of dirt were flying left and right. June 6. Longspurs were actively engaged in chasing today. I noted two males, one of which was an intruder being persued for a full 4 minutes. Wherever this stranger landed the owner of the territory would move closer in a sneaky crouched manner with be launched back. When their wild flight they hoped to enter a third territory, the owner of this territory joined the chase. 7 June Found a partially completed nests. The female struck close to the area; flying around me. She was perfectly silent all the time (Nest on Beach Bridge). 9 June. Found one nest, partially lined with small feathers. The birds kept nearby and acted excited. On the Honey Bucket side of the road I found an other nest which appeared completed, but no eggs yet. Also, the owners of the nest were not around. Again.
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NAM Verbeek. 1966 this supplies more evidence that the season is late. The females while Pitelka shot yesterday showed only early stages of brood- pitch development and I believe only one out of 6 had laid egg. On the W. shore of Elson hagoon I found a nest with one egg in it. Of the three birds Pitelka shot there, two had oviphased follicles, and One had laid an egg, the other had a large egg, lacking the final calcareous shell in the oviduct. 11 June Found a nest with 3 eggs in it W of Honey Bucket hagoon. The nest I found on 9 June, partially lined had no eggs yet. Along the N. shore of Ukpik though I flashed a female of her nest of 4 eggs. The fluttered low than the grass for some 20 m. 12 June Saw a male picking up bits of grass while he walked very energetically and in a "frustrated" manner with his tail spread and pressed down and his wings held partly open away from his body. After walking about one to 1½ meters he flew up about 10 meters high and uttered his flight song, causing his pieces of straw to fall to the ground. After a while he repeated this performance, again taking the straws with him into the air and dropping them. The male was alone when he displayed as noted above. 13 June The nest which appeared completed on June 9, contained 3 eggs. 14 June Found three more nests today; all in the drum area. One with 6, 1 ad 4 eggs. The one with 6 eggs is nest #5 16 June Found one nest with 4 eggs. The nest was in a collapsed lemming tunnel and thus had a roof over it. A second nest with 4 eggs
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NAM Verbeek 1966 Calcarius lapponicus (3) was located on the W. side of Honey Bucket. The nest was located in the side of a wheel track. Pitelka and I found a third nest 4 eggs, between the road and the East side of South Salt Lagoon. 20 June Found two more nests today #6, #7, each with 5 eggs, on the Beach Bridge. The nests were about 40 m. apart. I also marked an older nest #8 with 5 eggs. This female was reluctant to leave. I had to touch her with my pencil before she jumped out of the nest. 21 June Noticed a group of three males feeding peacefully together. 25 June The first young of the year hatched in nest #1. Of the 6 eggs 5 had hatched and the 6th had just come out of the shell. The two shell halves were still - the nest. (22:00). 26 June Found nest (#9) with 4 eggs in it on the Britton Area. 27 June Found nest (#10) with 4 small young (all dry) and eyes closed S. of Imikpuk. The parties of 8 and 9 long spurs are becoming more frequent. They seem to move about in small flocks. Saw one such flock of 30-39 feeding together in the grass of a high polygon. 2 July #6 - 5 young, eyes open #7 - 2 young, other eggs not hatched #8 - probably robbed - no pieces of shell, no fecal remains to indicate that the nest had any young at any time. #5 - 5 young, one egg, Eyes open #14 - 3 large young #2 - 5 large young #1 5 July #1 nest only one young in nest.
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Art Verbeek 1966 Calcarius laffonianus (4) nest #6. 5 young nest #7 empty and apparently fledged. Saw a & give chase to a semipal (on the wing). In some 20m. 7 July longspur in Square 19 of P's plot, nest robbed of its young. All feathers pulled out. 10 July Not seen on our trip to the Point. 12 July A male longspur chased away a Redback after he managed to pull out 3 wing feathers. 14 July Went to the Censers plot and found the remaining longspur nest still had 4 large young, ready to leave the nest. 27 July At Meade River, along the shore (W) of the large lake E. of camp I noticed a loose flock of some 40 to 50 birds on the bluffs. This is the first such congregation I have seen.
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NAM Verbeek 1966 Plectrophenax nivalis (1) 3 June Snow Buntings, both males and females were present on the day of arrival. The males were heard displaying and chasing other males. They all seem to be paired 4 June The nest box outside our window is being inspected by a female 5 June This morning the female again inspected the nest box going in and out several times. I also noted a pair of birds copulating in the snow. today. The whole thing lasted so short that there may have been no sperm transfer. Afterwards the female took a bath in the snow while the male just hopped around on the snow. 6 June. At 22:05 the female flew 6 times into the nest box with nest material she picked up on the left side of our cab. The male fed on the ground below. After she had brought material 6 times (don't know how long she was building before I noticed her) in one minute they both flew off. 12 June. There are among male Snow Buntings, different types of advertising songs, each male having his own song. There is one bird along Honey Bucket who is different again from all others. This latter male has a very large territory judging from the distribution of his singing posts. 26 June Noticed a male aggressively pulling at the rump feathers a wrig tip (could not determine which). This went on for some 30 sec. after which the male released his grip. At that point the female chased him on foot to about 75 cm. and he flew off.
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A.M.Verbeek 1966 Plectrophenax nivalis (2) 4 July One pair of Snow Buntings gathered Chironomus larvae in their spog along a small pond. The pupae were hatching and the emerging adults were being washed ashore. 7 July Saw two fledgling snow buntings in the Drum Area. They were quite able to fly but were still being fed. 10 July Saw one juvenile on the Pont, near the two smoke chuges. There were several adults. 11 July A male Snow Bunting persistently chased a female Longspur over a distance of 20 m. 21 Aug. The Snow Buntings are presently confined to the Drum Area and to the Buildings.
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