Alaska journal, v4433
Page 387
Image from the Biodiversity Heritage Library. Contributed by Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, University of California, Berkeley. | www.biodiversitylibrary.org
Transcription
MacLean 1969 Journal (14 June) suddenly all over the place. Pitelka took the weasel out to his plot, so Bill Berry and I walked out to the Beach Ridge, so. of F.A.A., the fog was very heavy and shorebird activity was virtually nil. Spent the morning checking lemming nests for predation. Again - predation was quite high, including 1 Longspur hauled into a lemming nest and consumed. A pair of turnstones is nesting up on top of the ridge - they attacked a passing parasitic jaeger - but I did not find the nest. After lunch drove our Gawell Road. Left off Bill across Voth Crossing, then Dave Hawes and I looked at lemming nests in Voth area and across Voth Crossing, East of Road and North of Hewellyn's Road. In both places, the heavy predation level holds. Saw a few cases of pectoral display, but not much. Bairds again very noisy, including one chase of 5 birds. Saw a few more jaegers today, but still not many, and no territorialism. It is going to be very interesting to see if the lemmings can rise to a peak after suffering this kind of predation - apparently just as the increase was getting going in high gear. there is