Walking in the Dark
By Jim Rue, Naturalist, Valley Branch Environmental Learning Center
Conducting a Breeding Bird Survey at the Belwin Conservancy.
It is dark. The streets are quiet. The air is warm and humid. The last swallow of coffee has been finished and the dog has been let out. It is time to go birding.
Lynette Anderson, Geoff Urban, and I volunteered to help conduct a bird survey for the Belwin Conservancy – the survey outlined in the spring 2010 edition of The Meadowlark. The three of us are familiar with the preserve because we all work as educators at the Valley Branch Environmental Learning Center located at the Belwin Conservancy. We decided to do this for a multitude of reasons: to practice our birding skills, to conduct research that we could share with our students, and just to enjoy nature in the early hours. It was also a great opportunity to give something back to the Belwin Conservancy for all their support to the school program over the years. It would take getting up an hour or two earlier but I was sure I would not regret it. Once that first owl begins to hoot, or a fox is caught pouncing on a rodent, or that “everything is good in the world” feeling washes over you, a cozy bed is forgotten.
Tara Kelly outlined the study, gave us our data sheets, and took us on a tour of the sampling points. The survey had a strict protocol. From mid-May to the end of June we were to sample six times. We were given a set of sampling points along a trail system. To get to all of the points would take about two hours if we moved quickly. Sampling could only be done for 4 1⁄2 hours beginning 30 minutes before sunrise. At each point we were to wait for one minute and then count all birds seen or heard in a 5-minute period within 50-meter perimeter. We were not to count “flyovers” or birds that were merely passing through. If there was a persistent rain, fog, or winds exceeding 12-15 mph. we were not to conduct the survey.
Of course the usual cast of characters were documented: Crows, Mourning Doves, Catbirds, Cardinals, Robins, Blue Jays, Nuthatches (Red-breasted, White-breasted), Chickadees, and Woodpeckers. Occasionally there would be an Indigo Bunting, a Rose Breasted Grosbeak, or a Scarlet Tanager. There were also some real surprises: a Le Conte Sparrow, and Henslow’s Sparrow, and not one but two American Woodcock.
There were also plenty of stories to tell. One of my best memories was seeing a Ruby-throated Hummingbird sitting on a dead limb of a tall tree bathing itself in the warmth of first morning light. Lynette caught a young buck “playing” with a flock of Wild Turkeys. Geoff had his heart racing more than once when in the quiet of the morning was startled by a group of turkey poults exploding under his footsteps. Deer also seemed to be everywhere but never unappreciated. They would stand grazing in the tall green grass or could be heard snorting and stomping from around a bend.
We hope that the data collected will help researchers learn what is out there and what is not, and that this will help us make better choices in the future. Many species are depending on us to make the right decisions right now for their long-term survival.