Certified Dataset: Loons Monitoring in Bering Land Bridge National Preserve (BELA) and Cape Krusenstern National Monument, Alaska

National Park Service

NPS conducts aerial Yellow-billed Loon surveys biennially (every odd year) in late June in Bering Land Bridge National Preserve (BELA) and Cape Krusenstern National Monument (CAKR). The survey data allow the NPS to assess population occupancy, density and distribution of loons. These long-lived and large birds are easily spotted from the air and return to the same breeding lakes each year, making them ideal for monitoring population trends in a freshwater ecosystem (Flamme et al., 2018). The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service designed specific lake-circling methods and established random plots for aerial surveys to optimize detection of Yellow-billed Loons in their nesting habitats. Two pilot-observers teams in tandem fixed-wing aircraft conduct repeat surveys of 24 plots scattered across BELA and CAKR. Flights are conducted at an altitude of less than 500 feet and all five species of loons encountered (Yellow-billed, Common, Red-throated, Pacific and Arctic) and their nests are recorded. This dataset makes available the information collected as part of the Yellow-billed loon monitoring program of the National Park Service in Western Alaska from 2016 through 2023. Data column definitions: Column Definition Year Year Park Park. BELA or CAKR Plot Plot number Lake Lake identifier Date Observation date Species Loon species ScientificName Scientific name CommonName Common name Count Number of loons observed IsNest Whether a nest was observed. 1=TRUE, 0=FALSE IsPair Whether a nesting pair was observed. 1=TRUE, 0=FALSE Chicks Number of chicks observed. Eggs Number of eggs observed. Location Location of loons. Peninsula, Shoreline, Island, or NULL Activity Activity. By Nest, On Nest, Flushed, or NULL SurveyType Survey type. Some surveys years used two flights including nest initiation surveys and later productivity surveys. IsIncidentalObservation 1 = Opportunistic observation taken outside of a standard loon monitoring plot. Generally, not used for analysis. Latitude Latitude Longitude Longitude Notes Notes TailNumber Aircraft tail number Aircraft Aircraft CertificationLevel CertificationLevel. Raw = unprocessed, Provisional = Processed, but not yet certified, Certified = Certified by project leader ObservationID Unique identifier.

Certified Dataset: Loons Monitoring in Bering Land Bridge National Preserve (BELA) and Cape Krusenstern National Monument, Alaska

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