Students living on Bering Island (the largest of the Commander Islands) have just returned from their summer camp.  Here’s their report.. 

The etno-ecological camp “Aglakh” started on Jul 19 and continued to Jul 30. Eleven students (3 girls and 8 boys) and 2 PhD student, who were former Nikolskay school students, crossed the Bering Island twice. They saw bird colonies, observed many marine bird species including red-legged kittiwakes, puffins, and cormorants. Nests of kittiwakes had chicks. Students were impressed by the large puffin colony on Ostrovnoy Cape. On the other side of the Cape we observed guillemots, fulmars and kittiwakes. We also walked to Dikaya Bay where the marine bird colonies are located. Students made their own observations, wrote them in a copy books, and took pictures of birds. The camp leader taught students how to distinguish each bird species and about the biology of each species. The weather was good. There were no rains and all our days were very warm. Students learned about plants, and encountered lapland bunting and snow buntings while they were walking. During rest-time, the students played sport and ecology games.

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