Birds Found on the Arctic Slope of Northern AlaskaBee, James W.
Science
Birds Found on the Arctic Slope of Northern Alaska
Bee, James W.
Birds -- Alaska
A group of five pectoral sandpipers frequented the shore of Barrier
Lake (July 29, 1951) but the group was not seen the following day. On
August 3, there was a sudden increase of pectoral sandpipers in the
area; most of them were in flocks of six to 50. From one point along
edge of the uplands, we shot 20 birds from several different flocks
consisting mostly of juveniles. They seemed curious about our presence.
When a bird was shot from the flock, the entire group circled back and
forth over the dead or injured bird, sometimes only three or four feet
above our heads. In the late evening of this same day, the number of
pectoral sandpipers increased and although some were moving westward,
most of them were moving eastward. On the following day they were
still present in great numbers. The day before the arrival of these
migrating birds, two adults (Aug. 2) acted as if they were still
attending young. On July 30, we shot at a lone bird as it flew by and
thereupon it climbed upward until nearly out of sight as they
frequently did when chased by falcons.
At Lake Schrader (July 23, 1952) pectoral sandpipers were active 24
hours of the day.
On August 4, 1952, at the south end of Lake Peters, a group of eight
pectoral sandpipers fed near camp. On August 5, one was shot and on
the following day only seven were seen, suggesting that they were
established in the area and were not migrants. They left on August 12.
At James Robert Lake (3600 feet elev., August 8, 1952), which is the
most southern body of water in the canyon south of Lake Peters,
several pectoral sandpipers were feeding along the edge of the lake
and on the alluvium outwash below James Robert Glacier.
At Gavia Lake there was a decided trend in movement of groups of
pectoral sandpipers. On August 22, 1952, groups of 2, 4, 6, 8, 8, 8,
16, 17, 18 flew by to the east. The day before there were only a few
sandpipers and these were not especially on the move. Comparison
between dates of active movements of sandpipers in 1951 and 1952
indicate that migration was considerably earlier in 1951 than in 1952.
+Erolia bairdii+ (Coues): Baird's sandpiper.--Specimens, 5: Topagaruk,
155 deg.48', 70 deg.34', 10 ft., 4, Nos. 30657-30660 including 2 ad. males and 2
ad. females, July 7, 9, 10, 1951; Kaolak River, 159 deg.47'40", 70 deg.11'15",
30 ft., 1, No. 30656, ad. male, July 12, 1951.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account