Data to the summer ornithofauna of the Seskar Archipelago in Eastern part
of the Gulf of Finland. - N.A. Vasilyeva. - Berkut. 11 (1). 2002. - P. 18-26.
The study was carried out on islands of the Seskar Archipelago in the Eastern
part of the Gulf of Finland (Leningrad region of Russia, 60o N, 28o E). During
the field work in May – August of 1994 114 bird species were recorded (Table
1, 2). A great number of small boulder and grassy islets and vast shallows provide
the favorable conditions for numerous breeding and migrating birds. According
to counts about 270 pairs of birds from Anseriformes order, 90 pairs of waders
and about 2700 pairs of gulls and terns nest here. Among the most abundant species
it should be remarked Aythya fuligula and Anas platyrhynchos, Tringa totanus,
Larus argentatus, L. ridibundus, L. fuscus, Sterna hirundo. Such rare for the
Leningrad region species as Cygnus olor, Anser anser, Somateria mollissima,
Melanitta fusca, Anas strepera, Arenaria interpress, Haematopus ostralegus,
Larus marinus and Sterna paradisaea are breeding on the Archipelago. Probably,
Phylloscopus trochiloides, Ph. borealis, Muscicapa parva and Fringilla montifringilla
also nest on the Seskar Island. It is important to conserve the unique avifauna
both on the Seskar Archipelago and on the other islands of the Eastern part
of the Gulf of Finland. [Russian].
Key words: ornithofauna, the Gulf of Finland, count, rare species, conservation.
Address: N.A. Vassilieva, Institute of evolutionary Physiology and Biochemistry,
lab. 38, pr. Toreza 44, Saint-Petersburg, 194223 Russia. E-mail: nav@iephb.nw.ru.
