Fast Times Where the Latitude is High

The Arctic is pretty well known for its annual variability in everything from lemming numbers to ice melt, which is part of what makes climate change such a big deal at the Earth's poles. It is difficult to judge from year to year just how shifts in global temperature will impact the ecosystems at the top of the world, other than to say they will be profoundly impacted by increased climatic unpredictability.

A young male Polar Bear (Ursus maritimus) investigating a discarded pile of meat on the Chukchi Sea in Barrow, AK

Jun. 12, 2017

Based on the exceptionally early melt dates for 2015 and 2016, I had expected this season in Barrow to be a similar case. I couldn't have been more wrong. As part of the monitoring done by the USFWS shorebird crew, an estimate of the snow, water, and land coverage of select quadrants of each plot are taken every other day until only 10-15% of the area on all plots are covered in snow. At this point estimates are made on a weekly basis. This helps to put data such as nest initiation dates and invertebrate abundance in context each year with the receding snow pack. Last year a few of the plots had already declined to approximately 20% snow coverage by the time we arrived on May 24, 2016. This is a stark contrast to this year, in which the plots did not reach the 10-15% average until June 20, which is the latest snow melt in the 15 year history of the project. Similar conditions were apparently present across the entire North Slope, as evidenced by preliminary reports from the other USFWS shorebird camps scattered from Barrow to Arctic NWR at the Canning River.

One of several Red-necked Stints (Calidris ruficollis) that helped to spice things up with a bit of Eurasian flare this June in Barrow. This species is essentially annual in Barrow, and one even found its way east to the Canning River (ANWR) this June!

Jun. 15, 2017

While the colloquial public understanding of Earth's changing climate has been somewhat muddled by its initial labeling as "Global Warming," the reality is much less straight forward. An increase in the average global temperature will have a far more potent impact on life on Earth (and more specifically, human life on Earth) than merely being warmer. In the Arctic, where climate change is accelerating at a much greater rate than many other places of the planet, implications range from loss of summer sea ice, to sea level rise, shrub encroachment, permafrost loss, and the potential unravelling of many critical ocean currents.

I'll admit it, there were many times earlier this summer that I bemoaned the biting northeast wind and the calf-deep snow as I trudged around our study plots, straining to hear any displaying Dunlin (Calidris alpina articola) that may have returned. Though certainly more challenging mentally and physically than last year's early melt season, I feel fortunate knowing I've experienced a "cold" spring. This is not to say, however that this spring has been normal.

The affects of climate change do not occur in a strictly linear fashion, and fluctuations from year to year are to be expected. It is the magnitude of this flux that will become more severe going into the future, and it is this increased climatic chaos that will be most difficult for most of Earth's flora and fauna to adjust to.

Snow cover in early June (left) compared to late June (right)

Once the melting begins, the process occurs quite rapidly, though it took a long time to begin this season.

For example, this year's late season meant that most of the tundra was still largely covered in snow until mid-June which meant most of the shorebirds could not initiate nesting until around that time. Many of the waterfowl (Greater White-fronted Geese (Anser albifrons) in particular), which have an approximately 70 day nesting period from lay to fledge, elected not to breed, and are instead roving the tundra in flocks, biding their time until they begin moving south once more.

A pair of Spectacled Eider (Somateria fischeri) survey a promising nest site. The exceptionally late year means that unless nests were initiated as soon as habitat was made available, it seems unlikely many will successfully produce broods. Being the first to initiate also may make them more susceptible to predation as a fox only has to visit the few open patches of tundra to find nests. 

Jun 18, 2017

Once the weather did break though, it was a relief. The winds shifted to the SSW by mid June, and with it came a wave of vagrants, including several Red-necked Stints, and a Yellow Warbler. The winds also produced some great conditions on the ocean, and a few hours of sea watching produced several Short-tailed Shearwaters (Puffinus tenuirostris), Northern Fulmar (Fulmarus gracialis), Black Guillemot (Cepphus grille), a smattering of Crested Auklets (Aethia cristatella), and even a Bowhead Whale (Balaena mysticetus) or two.

A male Yellow Warbler (Setophaga petechia) seen feeding (and even singing) near the dump. While not unusual on the North Slope, there are few records of this species in Barrow.

Jun 18, 2017

One of the more exciting vagrants of the season thus far was a Gray-tailed Tattler (Tringa brevipes) that put on a half hour appearance at the South Salt Lagoon. It was even kind enough to call a time or two, clinching the ID. Add to this a White Wagtail (Motacilla alba) and Red-throated Pipit (Anthus cervinus), and you have a recipe for a pretty exciting summer thus far on the birding front!

Gray-tailed Tattler (Tringa brevipes) seen foraging in a recently drained pond.

Jun 25, 2017

In terms of breeding species, this seems to be a very slow year. Late initiation combined with increased fox and jaeger predation has put a real damper on the success of broods. It will be interesting to compare this year's nest success with that of a "normal" study site in the high arctic. The success of Barrow's shorebirds in former years undoubtedly benefitted from the fox control put in place in the hopes of increasing eider nesting success. Now that there is no longer fox control, Barrow is essentially a "typical" arctic site. Unfortunately, a pair of Parasitic Jaegers (Stercorarius parasiticus) appears to have learned how to find nests with our flag-and-popsicle method of marking nests and have all but cleared out one of our plots, further reducing the overall nest success of birds within our plots this year. That said, a few nests have fledged, and there are a handful of baby Dunlin (C. a. articola) and Red Phalarope (Phalaropus fulicarius) running around the tundra now. A testament to the elasticity and adaptability of birds, even in the face of considerable odds.

With the receding snow comes more pools of standing water, and grassy margins, perfect habitat for breeding Red and Red-necked Phalaropes (P. fulicarius and P. lobatus respectively)

late Jun 2017

Entering the realm of speculation, it will be interesting to see what the remainder of the season brings. Last fall was quite warm, leading to a relatively long summer season. If that is the case again this year, some birds may linger longer in order to complete their breeding cycles, or perhaps the bird's innate internal timing will drive them to abandon and proceed south to staging areas at the usual time (which seems the more likely outcome). Female Red Phalaropes (P. fulicarius) and male Pectoral Sandpipers (Calidris melanotos) have largely left or formed flocks along the coast, though this seems to be occurring at a similar time as last year. Because these groups do not partake in the incubation and rearing of the chicks, they tend to leave as soon as courting is complete.
For now warmer temperatures have tentatively returned to Barrow, and the tundra is beginning to green up for its fleeting growing season. The sedges this year will not need to worry about being eaten by Lemmings as there are incredibly few (I have yet to see any aside for a handful in the jaws of the occasional Arctic Fox (Vulpes lagopus)). This paucity of prey is undoubtedly responsible for the subsequent scarcity of Snowy Owls (Bubo scandiacus) in the area this year. 

The summer goes by fast in the arctic. If you don't stop to look around once in a while, you might miss it.

A Polar Bear (U. maritimus) and dozens of Glaucous Gulls (Larus hyperboreus) feed on discarded meat on the sea ice a few hundred meters off shore in Barrow, AK

Jun 12, 2017