The principal task for the ornithologist was bioengineering – building artificial nests to tempt rare bird species into breeding.
– Some rare raptor species, such as the White-tailed Sea Eagle or the Osprey, have certain requirements concerning nest sites. As a rule, they need tall, nearly flat-topped trees, preferably situated between drainage divides. The thing is that such birds are gliders, so fledglings literally fall down from the nest when they leave. However, there are not enough such trees in the park. Furthermore, suitable – old, hollowed trees – are susceptible to windthrow, and with Paanajarvi’s mosaic relief, winds can get rather strong at the foot of hills. Artificial nests are expected to create more nest sites suitable for the birds, – explained Sergey Simonov.
A White-tailed Sea Eagle nestling in the Paanajarvi National Park
For large raptors, the scientist constructed ten large nesting platforms and shelves. Another 30 structures – wooden nest boxes, are designed for smaller species: Goldeneyes, mergansers, and some owls, which prefer habitats at the water/wetland interface. Camera traps will be placed inside them to track who settles in the nests or visits them and, above all, to observe the nesting process. Four medium-sized nesting structures with skirting for owls and buzzards were built above the target.
– The primary goal of all these structures is to conserve and enlarge the population of rare bird species. Our colleagues in Nordic countries have done similar work before. In addition to that, their installations can add touristic appeal to the protected area: birds will forage and perform courtship rituals – which are truly spectacular in Goldeneyes and Mergansers – around the nesting site, and can watched up close without being disturbed, – the ornithologist said.
Ornithologist Sergey Simonov demonstrates nest boxes to colleagues
Scientists will observe the tenants of the artificial nests within this project for three years. Their service life is at least ten years, so after the project this work will be continued by the park’s staff.
There is currently no state-of-the-art data regarding the Paanajarvi bird fauna. Two time slices are available to researchers: ornithologists performed active monitoring in the 1970s and then resurveyed the fauna in the 1990s. However, these results have now grown outdated.
– By way of example: the Yellow-breasted Bunting used to be a background species of northern forests as recently as the 1990s. As of now, it is totally extinct from Finland and, probably, Karelia as well. The current situation needs to be investigated, and the first thing to do is to choose the right methods and approaches, – commented Sergey Simonov.
White-tailed Sea Eagle
So, a priority task for ornithologists today is to try out and evaluate various approaches for specific habitats – forest, open land, etc., and to comparatively analyze techniques, including in modeling and exposure, in order to select the optimal ones that produce accurate data.
– This is the core. Choosing a faulty technique, we lose the possibility to refer to the original data. Right now we are establishing the pivot to rely upon for ourselves or our followers when drawing conclusions in the future. Protected areas provide good grounds for long-term monitoring, for assessing population changes and its drivers. Being free of the hunting pressure, the fauna will be changing in line with the global trends, – remarked the scientist.
In February, observations of the forest reindeer – a nationally and regionally red-listed species – were continued in the Paanajarvi NP. Zoologist Danila Panchenko carries out winter track counts in the park and checks camera traps. Another part of the trip agenda was the workshop “Interactions between PAs to Respond to Development in an Arctic Region”, in which the scientists participated alongside representatives of the Paanajarvi and Kalevala national parks and Kandalaksha and Kostomuksha nature reserves. The researchers told the colleagues about ongoing activities and projects.
Senior Researchers of the Zoology Laboratory IB KarRC RAS Danila Panchenko and Sergey Simonov took part in a workshop with representatives of the protected area
Staff of the Zoology Laboratory IB KarRC RAS will install the artificial nests and resume winter track counts in early March.
The project “Arctic nature in the Paanajarvi National Park” is among the winners of the first grant competition of the Presidential Foundation for Nature. It is implemented by the North-Center Association and the Paanajarvi National Park in partnership with the Karelian Research Centre RAS. The project targets the conservation of unique arctic ecosystems. To achieve this goal, researchers will collect up-to-date information on the park’s biodiversity, including the state of rare and red-listed species and human pressure on the environment.
Photos: A. Protasova (Paanajarvi NP), I. Georgievsky, M. Dmitrieva (KarRC RAS)