[Maine-birds] Birders Needed for Mountain Bird Surveys

Hello Birders,

Mountain Birdwatch is a high-elevation bird monitoring program of the Vermont Center for Ecostudies (VCE). We are currently seeking volunteers to help survey Bicknell’s Thrush and 9 other montane forest bird species on established survey routes along hiking trails in the Maine Mountains (as well as in the mountains of New Hampshire, Vermont, and New York).

Skills Required:  We’re looking for beginner to experienced birders who are strong hikers and enjoy camping in the mountains.  Mountain Birdwatch (MBW) collects data on 10 bird species and the red squirrel (a nest predator), so even casual birdwatchers can participate if they are willing to learn how to identify the target species by sight and sound using training materials that we provide.

Time Commitment:  Surveys start 45 minutes before sunrise and are completed by 8am on a single morning during the month of June. On most survey routes, that requires camping out near the survey points the night before. In addition, another 1-1.5 hours of time is required to summarize data from field forms, and to enter it into an online, web-based data entry system before July 15^th.  

Rewards for Volunteering:  Participants enjoy numerous intangible rewards (such as seeing the sunrise from a mountain summit and contributing valuable data for the conservation of high-elevation bird populations).

Check out the interactive map of available routes to see what routes in the Northeast are in need of volunteers.

For questions or to participate, contact sfaccio@vtecostudies.org (please do not send inquires to this listserv).

Many thanks,
Steve

--   ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  Steve Faccio  Conservation Biologist  Vermont Center for Ecostudies  PO Box 420  Norwich, VT 05055    Physical Address  20 Palmer CT  White River Junction, VT 05001  802-649-1431 xt.3  sfaccio@vtecostudies.org  www.vtecostudies.org  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~