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Borrego Springs, CA

Tuesday, June 25, 2013

The North American Breeding Bird Survey (BBS)

Back in 1966, Chandler Robbins began the North American Breeding Bird Survey.  The results of the BBS are valuable in evaluating the increasing and decreasing range of bird populations which can be a key point to bird conservation.  That first year, there were only 600 official routes mainly starting in Maryland and the surrounding area.  Presently, there are about 3700 active routes throughout the US and Canada.

Each route is exactly 24.5 miles long, and remains the same year after year so population trends can be studied.  The BBS is one of those great citizen scientist projects that birders can get involved in to help insure the continued existence of our avian community.  Cooperators (me) begin the driving route exactly one half hour before sunrise at stop one.  (That’s why I had to get up shortly after 3 a.m. so I could take Emma out, eat breakfast, pack the truck with equipment, and get to the starting point 15 miles away on back roads by exactly 5:01.)

After looking for and listening for all species for precisely three minutes at each stop, you hop back into the truck and drive one half mile down the route and do it all again.  There are fifty stops along each route, and it is expected that you will complete the route in four to five hours before bird song drops off dramatically.  So much for expectations…

It was warm, muggy, and slightly foggy as Rachel and I arrived at the starting point.  Only one person is allowed to identify birds or songs, so Rachel was my official recorder.  I would call out what I was hearing or seeing at each stop, and she would tick the birds off on an official record sheet that is not in any particular order.  It’s not easy to start with.  A couple of readers of this blog have been recorders for me in the past when I did the BBS for 13 years outside of Rochester, MN, so you know of what I speak.

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                                                    Egg shell remains of a dug up turtle nest.

We were off to a good start, although moving a bit slower than some routes due to the two track overgrown back roads of the refuge.  Our first major delay came when we were supposed to cross a very narrow bridge over the Otter Tail River.  Upon approach, there were three snapping turtles busy laying eggs in the tracks where there is some open ground.  It’s a popular spot for laying eggs as was evidenced by three other nests that had been gutted by raccoons overnight.  Getting around those turtles and onto the two skinny strips of wood over the river was a real challenge especially when one turtle decided to get up and move under the truck right by the tire!

IMG_3602     One of the pluses of the day was finding this happy Trumpeter Swan family with five signets in tow.

Next up, I was carefully watching the odometer to arrive at exactly the next half mile stop when Rachel hollered bear!  Sure enough, just on my left in a small but deep pond a big male black bear swam across.  He headed for the woods about twenty feet away.  Since our next stop was only ten feet away or so, I told Rachel I was going to shout out my bird sightings to her to be sure the bear knew we were still in the area.  Disappointed smile

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We powered through some boggy areas in four wheel drive, and continued on to our next obstacle.  Remember, we had scouted out all of the roads on Saturday, so were really not expecting any problems.

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Well, Mother Nature had another surprise in store for us.  We must have really ticked off those beavers that I got pictures of on Saturday, as they decided to put up another dam right on the levy that we had to cross.  In only two days, the result was a flooded road bed close to a foot deep.  No way I was going to try to drive across that.  That meant backtracking, and going the long way around for over ten miles.  That business took us an hour to accomplish on these back roads, which really put us behind.

We managed to finish the whole route, but bird song had surely diminished after the beaver dam fiasco as the temps rose.  I had to remove four stuck on ticks after we finally staggered home.  For the first time in over seven years, I actually took a nap this afternoon.  Getting up at  3:00 took it’s toll.  We had quite an adventure today, but I’m happy it’s done with.

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                                                                               THE END!!

Thanks for stopping by… talk to you later,  Judy

23 comments:

  1. Thank you for your part in the survey.

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  2. talk about perseverance.
    beautiful swan pics

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  3. Sounds like today might come under the heading of expect the unexpected, huh?

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  4. That was some day! You may have already told us, but how often do you do the survey? Im glad Rachel spotted the bear!
    Great photos of the swan family....the babies are so cute!


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  5. I had no idea that as the temperatures increase, birds singing decreases. Very interesting.

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  6. Another gorgeous header picture. You do take some fabulous ones. Did you mean sunrise rather than sunset to start the survey? What a great day! Even the obstacles in your life are really interesting. I want to be Rachel.

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  7. I have always wanted to see trumpeter swans, and am enamored with your pictures!! They are such beautiful, special birds... lovely, lovely photos!!

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  8. Wow, you sure packed a full day today! No wonder you needed a nap when you were finished. I often need an afternoon snooze and I sleep in until 7 or 8 am.

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  9. What a day!! Are you allowed to make notations on the survey that might explain the lower numbers you may have encountered? Just wondered if it makes a difference in the overall survey.

    Beautiful swan pictures. We have a lot of tundra swans seasonally here, but have never seen a trumpeter.

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  10. The swans are so beautiful.
    All these posts are surely great lessons learned for me.

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  11. Thank you for your participation in the BBS. When you get to heaven (a long time into the future) you will surely be serenaded by all the bird sounds you like.

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  12. A busy day for a worthwhile effort.

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  13. Love the swan pictures. That was a very interesting outing.

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  14. Wow. You sure have an interesting job. I am pretty sure no bears will arrive while I'm working. Pretty sure.

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  15. Who could ask for a better job! Birds, bears, swan babies--what a wonderful office you have!

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  16. That trip was a challenging one, for sure!! I would love to hear you doing bird calls...in your jungle outfit..Someone should do some video taping...I am thrilled here just to have a couple Wrens checking out my Wren house..Chances are slim to none that they will stay, they never do, but I LOVE their songs!

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  17. Thank you for all the info on the BBS. I knew zero about it. Higher temps = lower music...another fact I didn't know.

    Are you premitted to take some of the beaver's handiwork apart so that the flooding doesn't happen again? I have no idea how this works.

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  18. Thank you for teaching (sharing) such interesting adventures in your blog. I always learn a lot. I can't say, enough, how beautiful your pictures are.

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  19. Wow, frustrating day, but you sure did see some great things, and took some fab photos. I'm sorry you got behind, but at least you got it done! Good job. :)

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  20. What kind of song did that bear make? ;c)

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  21. Great info and great photos as usual.

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  22. Awesome Trumpeter Swan family photos!

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  23. Thanks for sharing this....I'm impressed!

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