SAVANNAH - Montezuma Audubon Center held its first Project Feeder Watch Workshop on Saturday to encourage bird fanciers to help track winter bird movements and trends in bird populations.
A nationwide research project, Project Feeder Watch is a winter-long survey of birds visiting feeders all over North America and Canada. It's been going on for 20 years, Carol Stokes-Cawley, the education manager at MAC said, but this is the first time the center will be involved.
The Audubon Center, located on state route 89 about two miles north of the village of Savannah, opened its doors on May 5 as an educational facility. It houses a small aquarium inhabited by turtles and salamanders among other creatures, a meeting room, a classroom, and a gift shop filled with items to appeal to naturalists as well as school children. Its window walls open onto two large ponds and a woods, in effect, a massive biology lab.
“We have six different habitats just on this property,” center director Frank Moses said, “upland woods, open emergent marsh, wet woods, grassland, flowing creek habitat, and a bog between the wetlands and Lake Crusoe.”
Before the Saturday workshop began, visitors viewed two trumpeter swans landing in one of the ponds through a spotting scope in the center's lobby. Margaret Cook, volunteer coordinator and a retired biology teacher, helped identify the birds and adjust the scope.
Cook explained the center's location in a state-owned and managed restored wetland area, formerly agricultural land. The DEC controls the height of the water by means of dams in order to reclaim the wetlands, she said.
“It's important to the ecosystem,” Cook said. “It's important to have wetlands to make life healthier.”
The Feeder Watch Program is part of a broader Citizen Science movement to involve the public in professional research. It strives to answer large-scale questions about birds, monarchs, and amphibians and promotes environmental awareness.
In central New York Cornell University handles scientific aspects of the feeder watch. It costs $15 to join the Cornell project, but those interested in bird movements can also find free sites to submit their information.
“What's cool about Project Feeder Watch is that after you pay the fee you can get into the computer to find maps, magazines, and other information related to the project,” Stokes-Cawley said. She thinks the number of feeder watchers in the U.S. and Canada will surpass 16,000 tallied last year.
Workshop attendees learned how to provide data to scientists to help them track winter bird movements and population trends. They got forms on which to record such things as species, weather, and temperature. Count dates for this year begin on Nov. 10 and extend through early April.
“You are going to provide a lot of data that scientists are going to use,” Stokes-Cawley told the group of 10 or so gathered there.
“Routinely, about 25 different species visit this area over the whole winter,” Stokes-Cawley said.
“You can look when you're taking a break or maybe when you're sitting down to breakfast and looking out the window,” she said. “You have to count them all at once. You go with the biggest flock there all at one time in order to avoid recounting the same birds who may revisit a feeder.”
Birds in flight don't count, and specific information about the surroundings and location of the bird feeder must be filed.
The weather is also a factor, as some birds, such as robins, tend not to be around when there's a lot of snow, but they do come in the winter otherwise.
Mystery birds are recorded on the form. Pictures of the birds may be sent to Cornell.
Stokes-Cawley offered the group binoculars to walk along the trail leading into the woods to get a good look at what was happening on the pond. Those who came were enthusiastic about the Feeder Watch Project and excited about joining.
Kathleen Barran / The Citizen
Kathy, left, and David Owens, of Aurora, 15-year birdwatchers; and retired nurse Pat Sanderson, of Seneca Falls, a beginning bird watcher, look over information on bird counting at the Montezuma Audubon Center Saturday.
Carol Stokes-Cawley, education manager at Montezuma Audubon Center, welcomes visitors to Project Feeder Watch.
The Audubon Center, located on state route 89 about two miles north of the village of Savannah, opened its doors on May 5 as an educational facility. It houses a small aquarium inhabited by turtles and salamanders among other creatures, a meeting room, a classroom, and a gift shop filled with items to appeal to naturalists as well as school children. Its window walls open onto two large ponds and a woods, in effect, a massive biology lab.
“We have six different habitats just on this property,” center director Frank Moses said, “upland woods, open emergent marsh, wet woods, grassland, flowing creek habitat, and a bog between the wetlands and Lake Crusoe.”
Before the Saturday workshop began, visitors viewed two trumpeter swans landing in one of the ponds through a spotting scope in the center's lobby. Margaret Cook, volunteer coordinator and a retired biology teacher, helped identify the birds and adjust the scope.
Cook explained the center's location in a state-owned and managed restored wetland area, formerly agricultural land. The DEC controls the height of the water by means of dams in order to reclaim the wetlands, she said.
“It's important to the ecosystem,” Cook said. “It's important to have wetlands to make life healthier.”
The Feeder Watch Program is part of a broader Citizen Science movement to involve the public in professional research. It strives to answer large-scale questions about birds, monarchs, and amphibians and promotes environmental awareness.
In central New York Cornell University handles scientific aspects of the feeder watch. It costs $15 to join the Cornell project, but those interested in bird movements can also find free sites to submit their information.
“What's cool about Project Feeder Watch is that after you pay the fee you can get into the computer to find maps, magazines, and other information related to the project,” Stokes-Cawley said. She thinks the number of feeder watchers in the U.S. and Canada will surpass 16,000 tallied last year.
Workshop attendees learned how to provide data to scientists to help them track winter bird movements and population trends. They got forms on which to record such things as species, weather, and temperature. Count dates for this year begin on Nov. 10 and extend through early April.
“You are going to provide a lot of data that scientists are going to use,” Stokes-Cawley told the group of 10 or so gathered there.
“Routinely, about 25 different species visit this area over the whole winter,” Stokes-Cawley said.
“You can look when you're taking a break or maybe when you're sitting down to breakfast and looking out the window,” she said. “You have to count them all at once. You go with the biggest flock there all at one time in order to avoid recounting the same birds who may revisit a feeder.”
Birds in flight don't count, and specific information about the surroundings and location of the bird feeder must be filed.
The weather is also a factor, as some birds, such as robins, tend not to be around when there's a lot of snow, but they do come in the winter otherwise.
Mystery birds are recorded on the form. Pictures of the birds may be sent to Cornell.
Stokes-Cawley offered the group binoculars to walk along the trail leading into the woods to get a good look at what was happening on the pond. Those who came were enthusiastic about the Feeder Watch Project and excited about joining.
Kathleen Barran / The Citizen
Kathy, left, and David Owens, of Aurora, 15-year birdwatchers; and retired nurse Pat Sanderson, of Seneca Falls, a beginning bird watcher, look over information on bird counting at the Montezuma Audubon Center Saturday.
Carol Stokes-Cawley, education manager at Montezuma Audubon Center, welcomes visitors to Project Feeder Watch.
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