To order your copy directly from the University of Nevada Press,
click
here.
We are still looking for underwriters of our celebration planned
for the middle of May, 2007. Individuals or businesses able
to donate $500 or more will receive promotion associated with
our advertisement of the event as well as 4 complimentary tickets
to the event and an authors-signed copy of the Atlas book.
For donors of $1,000 or more, we offer all of the above and
a life-time membership for GBBO. Members receive our newsletters,
our annual technical publication
Great Basin Birds,
and membership privileges for our sponsored events. Help us
celebrate the first 10 years of GBBO and the great work we have
been able to accomplish! For details on sponsorship, please
.
The
long-awaited release of the Atlas book is finally in sight.
The University of Nevada Press will present the publication
in April 2007. The Atlas project, conducted between 1997 and
2006, involved the combined effort of dozens of funding partners,
hundreds of volunteer field workers, two peer reviewers, and
several editors. Cover art was provided by David A. Sibley and
book illustrations by Ray Nelson. The book presents accounts
for 275 species that have been confirmed breeding in Nevada,
or that are suspected to breed in the state. In addition to
the traditional maps of breeding distributions that were confirmed
during the Atlas project, the book also features results of
spatial predictive models generated based on habitat use and
distribution of each species. With these predictive maps, additional
areas in the state, in which the species is likely to breed,
can be pinpointed. Also featured are habitat types used by breeding
birds in Nevada and relative abundance estimates of species
in the state. Finally, the book discusses conservation status
and issues in Nevada for all featured species.
We are looking forward to inviting our membership to celebrate
GBBO’s ten-year anniversary and the release of the Atlas
book in May 2007. The celebration will take place in Reno
in the middle of May. Please look for announcements on our
website and mailings.
Three years into our winter raptor inventory program, we are
still continuing to expand our coverage throughout the state.
The surveys are especially popular with our citizen-scientist
volunteers, and they require good raptor identification skills
and the willingness to drive the back roads of Nevada for the
better part of a day to record all raptors along the road. Please
, if you’d like to join the fun.
Next year, we will again look for seasonal surveyors and volunteers
for a variety of bird inventory and monitoring programs. In
April through July, we need surveyors to do point counts, habitat
assessments, and data entry for our Nevada Bird Count program.
Volunteers get to do as much or as little as they want, but
they need to sign up with us to be part of the action. Limited
expense accounts are available for volunteers. We will also
hire up to 4 surveyors full time for the period of the Nevada
Bird Count field season in order to complete point count surveys
and vegetation assessments. Excellent bird identification skills
and basic vegetation identification skills required for seasonal
surveyor positions.
We will also conduct a new U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service-funded
inventory of Western Snowy Plover in Nevada. For this, we
are seeking volunteers and 2 seasonal full-time surveyors
to travel to potential breeding sites and survey for any Snowy
Plover activity. Most of the potential sites are remote and
involve a good deal of hiking off-trail. The surveys will
take place in May and June.
Finally, we need additional volunteer help for our ongoing
Aquatic Bird Count program. Especially the critical shorebird
migration sites of Lahontan Valley, including Carson Lake,
Stillwater, Carson Sink, and Humboldt Sink, need additional
coverage by surveyors. The surveys are very straightforward,
but require solid shorebird identification skills and a spotting
scope. These surveys will be done in April through early May.
For more details on all of these opportunities, please
or check for website updates in early 2007.
Over 250 point count surveys were done by GBBO staff and volunteers
on 215 transects thirteen habitat types across Nevada in 2006.
In addition, we have made great progress toward habitat assessments
that will enable us to characterize habitat suitability of priority
species for our state. We are grateful for the contributions
of all of our loyal volunteers and agency partners. Coverage
of this sort is only possible through wide commitment of our
supporters, and we are privileged to have this excellent level
of participation by you all! The data will be invaluable for
updating our “Resource Manager’s Guide to Nevada’s
Conservation Priority Species”, which will be posted online
early in 2007. In 2007, there will be again great opportunities
to participate either as seasonal surveyors or volunteers in
the Nevada Bird Count and other bird monitoring programs of
GBBO. See details below and check for updates posted shortly.
GBBO’s board of directors and staff have spent the past
year working hard on the first comprehensive strategic plan
for our organization. We are in the final phase of preparation
and expect to post the document on our website at the end of
the year. Please look for additional announcements on our website
and newsletters to our membership.
We are happy to report that the 2007 annual meeting of the Western
Field Ornithologists will take place in Las Vegas, Nevada, September
27th through 30th. Red Rock Audubon Society has graciously agreed
to host the event, and we invite our membership to participate
in the fun! The conference features scientific sessions with
short presentations on ongoing research in the western region.
We expect that many of the presentations will concern birds
of Nevada and adjoining regions. Also, the conference always
includes a plentitude of field trips led by birding experts,
as well as panels and workshops on advanced birding and ornithological
research techniques. This is an excellent opportunity to get
caught up with the current happenings in field ornithology.
For more details on the Western Field Ornithologists and conference
announcements, please visit the WFO website
www.wfo-cbrc.org.
Our annual journal, Great Basin Birds, is now available in PDF
format for ordering. If you are interested in a back issue in
PDF format, please
with the article title which you are interested in.
GBBO recently updated and expanded its online
Birdsong
Learning Program. The program is available to GBBO members,
who can use it to learn bird vocalizations and to quiz themselves.
Take advantage of this opportunity to deepen your enjoyment
and understanding of birds! To learn about the program, run
the “demo” module on our
website.
Then
for a password.
We have updated the
donation,
membership,
and
merchandise webpages to now
accept credit card payments (via Paypal). You can still use
the mail in forms to pay by check, but we wanted to offer the
option of paying via credit card for those who wish to do so.
So feel free to give it a try.
We
are happy to announce that we now have GBBO hats for sale. These
are 100% organic cotton, adjustable, Patagonia hats featuring
the GBBO logo on the front. We would like to extend special
thanks to
Patagonia for their donation of the hats. Check out the
merchandise
page for a large view of the hat and ordering information.
Due to the enormous amount of work that went into the
final phase of manuscript preparation for the atlas, GBBO's
other regular publications have been delayed this year.
Specifically, Volume 8 of Great Basin Birds will not be
published until January 2006. Also, we will be sending
out a newsletter shortly, in which we provide a more detailed
update about the ongoings at GBBO.
The GBBO report,
Landbirds of Nevada and the Habitats
They Need: A Resource Manager's Guide to Conservaiton
Priority Species is now available for direct download.
This report was generated from Nevada Bird Count data
and the Breeding Bird Atlas data. The purpose of the report
is to provide input for many different management plans
currently being worked on in Nevada. This is just the
first building block for a more detailed effort to provide
habitat management information for conservation priority
birds. With continued implementation of the Nevada Bird
Count and associated work, we hope to fill in many of
the currently unknown aspects of habitat requirements
for these species. The report is available on our
Public
Data section.
It is time again for the annual Pyramid Waterbird Count.
Bird counters are needed! This is a fun event and a great
way to learn to identify waterbirds and have a good time
birdwatching on the lake! We will need people with us
on the boats and some to help survey from the land. The
event will be on September 29th (Thursday) from 7:30am
to about 2pm. For more details go to our
GBBO
Upcoming Events webpage here.
We are in the final phase of the book manuscript for the
Nevada Breeding Bird Atlas. We now need your help reviewing
the draft acknowledgment chapter to make sure that all
atlas contributors are named. Please review our current
list
here,
and make sure that all folks, whom you know have participated
in the atlas (field work or other contributions), are
listed. Please check also that we spelled names and affiliations
correctly. If you have any additions or corrections, let
know (or call us at the office 775-323-4226). Thank you
so much for all your contributions to this monumental
project!
And what an exciting season it was. After a refreshingly
wet spring and heavy snow in the mountains, even the driest
desert transects were green and crawling with activity.
Point counts transects that had as few as three species
during the drought years, exploded with birds this year.
We can’t wait to compare this year’s numbers
with data from the first three years of the program.
Highlights of the season included the re-sighting of
breeding Gilded Flickers in the same general area in
which the Breeding Bird Atlas recorded them and a male
Vermilion Flycatcher seen on a count in Railroad Valley,
which is about 100 miles north of their range. One surveyor
reported a Gray Catbird stealing food out of the bill
of a Willow Flycatcher in the Deeth area. Both of these
species, but especially the catbird, are rare in that
region.
In all, our crews and volunteers completed over 200
point count surveys throughout the state this year.
We are now getting ready for the daunting task of organizing
this information and analyzing it. Anybody, who is interested
in donating a few hours of their time here and there,
to help with data entry, is encouraged to contact us.
Our request for assistance for finding nesting Pinyon
Jays in Nevada turned up two confirmed nest sites. One
was reported by Richard Brune in Alum Canyon (west of
Reno), and the other one by Linda Deming of Carson City,
who had them near her home. Only single nests were observed
in both cases, and both may have been late nests, as the
reports were from May. Most Pinyon Jays reportedly nest
in April, sometimes as early as March. We will examine
the nest sites later, after the birds have moved on, to
get information on nesting habitat requirements in Nevada.
So little is known about this declining bird, that we
are happy about any nesting information our members and
other birders can provide.
If the staff of GBBO seems a little pre-occupied lately,
it is because we are working overtime in order to put
the Nevada Breeding Bird Atlas “to bed”. It
has been an enormous amount of work, but we are confident
that our members and other readers will be pleased with
the long-awaited product. We are expecting to have the
final-final manuscript turned over to the University of
Nevada Press in September. The Press has promised that
they will then publish it within a year after manuscript
submission.
Due to a grant from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service,
we are currently offering up to three internship opportunities
for work on several aspects of bird monitoring in Nevada.
Our focus for internships is the Aquatic Bird Count program,
but we are somewhat flexible depending on the skills and
interest of the intern. We especially invite students
to participate this way in our programs, and we will work
with University faculty to develop projects that result
in course credits or theses. Our opportunities include
ABC data collection, preparation and help with analyses,
leading field trips, public outreach and promotion of
the ABC, and a variety of other tasks in our non-profit
organization. The internship stipend will depend on skill-level
and availability of the intern but, either way, will not
provide a major source of income. Please call our office,
or email to inquire.
In an effort to better understand nesting habits of Pinyon
Jays in Nevada, we are asking all birders to report any
evidence of Pinyon-Jay nesting. These birds often nest
in flocks so they might form a large colony, with nests
scattered throughout a stand of trees. If you find nesting
evidence in Nevada, please send us the coordinates of
the area (or directions), approximate number of individuals
in the colony, and any other notes on the condition of
the nest area. Please spend as little time as possible
at the site and back away if the Pinyon Jays begin to
respond to you (calling at you or generally getting excited).
If other corvids (magpies, ravens, etc.) are within sight,
do not approach the colony. Please submit reports via
email to
.
The Nevada Bird Count excel worksheet updated for 2005
is available online
here.
If you are helping us with pointcount surveys this year,
please transfer your data from your field sheets to this
excel sheet upon completion of the transect survey.
The Nevada Bird Count protocols for Upland Habitat Surveys
and Area Searches are now up on our
public
download page.
We would like to announce a signup page for the ABC program
which allows you to state which sites and times you plan
to survey this season. If you plan to do any surveys,
please list them on the page as it will allow us to see
which areas are not being covered. If you have any trouble
with the signup sheet, please contact
.
We have lots of opportunity for volunteers of all skill
levels this season so please sign up ASAP if you would
like to help out in any of the following areas:
-
Point-count surveys. If you have experience doing
bird point count transects and/or excellent bird
identification skills, then this would be a great
opportunity to help.
-
Shorebird count surveys. Ideal for birders interested
in shorebirds who would be willing to help us survey
sites.
-
Area searches. Ideal for birders who have excellent
bird identification skills and would be interested
in doing intensive surveys of a small area.
-
Data entry. Various opportunities for helping us
enter field data sheets into Excel for analysis.
Can be done out of your home or at our office in
Reno.
If you are interested in any of these opportunities
or would like to discuss other ways in which you can
help, please contact
( 775-323-4226).
NDOW is seeking volunteers who would like to help their
biologists survey Sage Grouse leks this March and April
in Central Nevada. If you are interested, contact
.
Do you bird Nevada’s wetlands, lakes, and reservoirs?
If yes, GBBO needs your help in documenting their value
for birds. It requires only that you record basics like
time, place, and numbers of birds (estimates, if necessary)
for each of your visits. You can report this information
in a very-easy-to-use format on our website under the
Aquatic Bird Count program. On this
webpage, you can also track what other people have reported
for a site by going to
Query
Data.
Join us again in this year’s count of Nevada’s
wintering birds of prey. We need additional volunteers
to help us drive surveys routes and identify all raptors
seen. It’s a fun way to enjoy Nevada’s winter
landscapes and big birds, and all in the warmth of your
vehicle (for the most part, anyway…). Most survey
routes will be run in the month of January 2005.
for details.
We are currently looking for a new co-editor of our yearly
journal, Great Basin Birds. If you have editorial experience,
first-hand experience with the peer-review process, have
an interest in ornithology and bird conservation, and
have time to become an editor on a volunteer basis, please
.This work will not take a huge amount of your time, and
can be done remotely via the internet.
As part of their North American Bird Conservation Initiative,
Partners in
Flight keeps a list of landbird species which are
most at-risk due to a combination of threats on their
habitats, declining populations, small population sizes,
or limited distributions. We have put a document on the
GBBO public download page
that lists the PIF priority species found in Nevada.
On September 22, 2004, we are doing our annual count of
Pyramid Lake birds. It’s a fun multi-agency effort
that involves boats, adventure (depending on whose boat
you pick…), shoreline surveys, and lots and lots
of birds! We expect to see between 16,000 and 30,000 birds
and to find at least a few rarities, for example Sabine’s
Gull, Red Phalarope, Long-tailed Jaeger, Surf Scoter,
Glaucus-winged Gull, or Snowy Plover. Bring binoculars
and scope, if you have one, and meet at the former visitor
center of the Sutcliffe Marina at 7:00 a.m.
Once again, we are monitoring migrant songbirds along
the lower Truckee River at our mist-netting and banding
stations. Bird banding is a unique opportunity for volunteers
to get up-close and personal with birds, to learn new
skills, and to participate in a bird research project.
We also welcome visitors after appointment. We operate
the banding station mornings from August 15 through September
30. To learn more about this opportunity and to request
a banding schedule, contact the GBBO office at 775-323-4226.
GBBO is offering a variety of opportunities for birders
to get involved in counting birds for conservation. Several
workshops are planned this spring in Las Vegas, Reno,
Elko, and Fallon. All events are free of charge. Bring
your basic birding gear, we'll provide everything else.
If you own a GPS unit, please bring it, too. Check out
the
Upcoming Events page for
details.
Our
Birdsong Training Program
has received some updates. Try the new Advanced Modules
which have been added to test grouping of birdsongs that
are similar or easily confused. Also try the "Create
your own module" feature which allows you to choose
which birdsongs you would like to be quizzed on (formerly
called the Custom Module).
The Nevada Bird Count 2003 Status Report is now available
for
download. The report
summarizes our work on the project for the past two years.
In addition, basic abundance patterns among habitat types
are discussed for 35 bird species identified as conservation
priorities for Nevada. Go to the
Nevada
Bird Count: Program Status page to download the report.
We need volunteers for bird survey transects this spring.
If you have experience doing bird point count transects
and/or excellent bird identification skills, please contact
us ASAP. We are already starting to sign up volunteers
for the spring field season and are in particular need
of birders who are willing to work in the Mojave. If interested,
contact
(775-323-4226).
Our mailing address has recently changed. We are now in
suite #1007 - the rest of the
address
remains the same
We need volunteers to help with road surveys in January.
This winter we are expanding our bird monitoring effort
to include wintering raptors by helping the Nevada Department
of Wildlife and Alan Hinde of Cambridge, MA, survey additional
Great Basin routes. The main skills needed are the ability
to identify raptors and navigate rural dirt-roads in Nevada.
If you have these skills and are interested in helping
us with this effort, contact
(775-782-5362) for further details. These surveys are
to begin soon so don't delay!
The birds are getting quiet out there and, thus, the point-count
season is unfortunately over. Thank you very much for
those who helped with the field season and your support
of our program. Please mail your filled-out data sheets
to the new
GBBO address.
Our new Data Manager,
, has prepared an Excel version of our data entry form
which you can download
here.
If you would like to help us out further, please download
a copy of the excel sheet, enter your data into the form,
and then email the form to
or
. If you have any questions about the data entry,
can help you.
Also, I am in the process of preparing the GBBO newsletter.
As usual, I welcome contributions from our members, partners,
surveyors, birders, and other interested parties. If you
have a funny/interesting/surprising/surreal anecdote from
the field season, please share it with me. If you have
a picture to go with it, even better. Or, if you'd like
to write a one-pager about your favorite NV bird or birding
destination, please let me know. -
It is time again for the Pyramid Lake Waterbird Count!
If you have participated in the past then you know the
drill. If you haven't participated before but would like
to help out or just enjoy a morning birding trip on Pyramid
Lake then we look forward to seeing you there on September
25th.
We will need people on our boat crews and also for the
shore crew (if boats aren't your favorite thing). Either
way, please plan on being at the Sutcliffe marina at 7:00am.
Bring binoculars, scopes, wind-proof clothes, and whatever
else you'll need to stay comfortable. We expect to be
done with the count around noon.
Please RSVP if you are planning to participate. Also feel
free to call if you would like to know more about the
event or directions on where to meet. New birders are
always welcome!
For questions or to
RSVP call Elisabeth Ammon at 775-323-4226.
Bird banding starts this week at the McCarran Ranch and
Numana Wetlands banding stations! The banding will take
place 3 times per week at the McCarran Ranch and 2 times
per week at the Numana site. All banding should last through
September.
If you are interested in bird banding, check out our
volunteer website to find out about being a bird
banding assistant. Then contact Jim
Lytle and let him know that you are interested.
Both experienced banders and complete beginners are
welcome!
The end of this year's point-count season will be ending
in a few weeks. We appreciate all of the volunteers who
have been out collecting bird survey data for the
Nevada
Bird Count project. If you did not do bird surveys
this year and are interested in participating next year,
please
so we can go ahead and line you up for next year.
Fixed a problem with the custom module where if you viewed
a non-custom module then tried to do a custom module,
the first module would appear instead of the custom one.
If you have been experiencing this problem, please give
it another try.
You may have already noticed a slight cosmetic upgrade
to the website. New additions and small changes will continue
for several weeks but hopefully the new look will make
the site a little easier to navigate. If you have any
trouble (especially with the top dropdown menus) please
send email to the
.
A "custom" module feature has been added to
the Brid
song Learning Program.
If you choose "custom" on the module list, you
will now have the ability to choose which birds you would
like to practice! Please note that I have not added a
preloader for the custom module yet so if you are on a
slow internet connection, you may experience slow load
times during the quiz each time a new bird comes up.
As a service to the birding community, GBBO is proud to
host the
GBBO Forums.
These forums are web-based discussion boards where birders
can discuss issues and ideas important to the Nevada birding
community. The forums are open to non-GBBO members as
well as our members. Please visit the
forums
and post some messages to help us get the discussions
started.
Larry Neel leads a field trip to Carson Lake and surrounding
areas for a count of migrant water/shorebirds. Bring spotting
scope (if available). Please
if you are interested in attending.
The first two of a series of Point Count Workshops will
be held in the Las Vegas area (later workshops will be
held near Elko and Reno). The first workshop will be held
before the Red Rock Audubon meeting on April 16, 1 p.m.,
and the 2nd on the following Saturday, April 19, 8 a.m.
Please
if you are interested in attending the workshops.
As soon as the dates for the remaining workshops are determined,
they will be posted.
Calling all birders! We need birders to help count migrating
waterbirds and shorebirds. This will be the first test
of our plan to include water- and shorebirds in the Nevada
Bird Count project! Tentative dates for these trips will
be:
· Stillwater NWR: April 19
· Pyramid Lake: April 25
· Swan Lake Study Area and surrounding playa
lakes: May 3
· Washoe Lake: May 10
Please look for announcements on our website, or
to get more details.
Point Count Workshops
(April 16, 19) |
posted
03/07/2003 |
The first two of a series of Point
Count Workshops will be held in the Las Vegas area (later
workshops will be held near Elko and Reno). The first
workshop will be held before the Red Rock Audubon meeting
on April 16, 1 p.m., and the 2nd on the following Saturday,
April 19, 8 a.m. Please
if you are interested in attending the workshops.
As soon as the dates for the remaining workshops are determined,
they will be posted.
Lecture on Breeding
Behaviors of Nevada’s Landbirds (April 1) |
posted
03/18/2003 |
Slide presentation by Elisabeth
Ammon (Great Basin Bird Observatory) on bird behaviors
during the breeding season and what they reveal during
point counts and bird-watching. The presentation will
be on Tuesday, April 1st, 5:15 - 6:15 p.m.
in the auditorium of the Reno/Washoe County Public Library
(Downtown), at the corner of Liberty and S Center. No
charge. The library is two blocks south of the CalNeva
parking garage (on First St.). Click
here for a map. If you have trouble parking near the
library, please use the CalNeva garage and we can get
you a validation stamp. Hope to see you there!
First Annual Frog
& Bird Roundup (April 5) |
updated
03/18/2003 |
Our highly anticipated chance to
visit the lower Truckee River area and help count the
imperiled leopard frog population was postponed due to
low water flows on the Truckee River. Originally planning
for March 22, this trip is being rescheduled due to low
water flows. It is now scheduled for Saturday April 5th.
If you are interested in the trip, please
to sign up.
Lecture on Sensitive
Species in Nevada (March 26) |
posted
03/06/2003 |
The Nevada
Natural Heritage Program (NNHP) collects information
on the occurrences, distribution, and population status
of the rare and sensitive species found throughout the
state of Nevada. The Program continually evaluates conservation
priorities for over 600 kinds of native animals, plants,
vegetation types, and their habitats - those most vulnerable
to extinction or serious decline - and supplies information
and technical services to meet diverse conservation, development,
planning, and research needs.
Jennifer Newmark is a Program Biologist for the Nevada
Natural Heritage Program and will be speaking on the
sensitive species in Nevada. This is a great opportunity
to learn about the threats to Nevada wildlife and to ask
releavant questions.
The presentation will be on Wednesday, March 26,
5 - 6 p.m. in the auditorium of the Reno/Washoe
County Public Library (Downtown), at the corner of Liberty
and S Center. No charge. The library is two blocks south
of the CalNeva parking garage (on First St.). Click
here for a map. If you have trouble parking near the
library, please use the CalNeva garage and we can get
you a validation stamp. Hope to see you there!
Thanks to Don DesJardin
and Brad Sillasen |
posted
03/13/2003 |
We
want to extend special thanks to Don
DesJardin and Brad
Sillasen for allowing the GBBO to use their bird photographs
in our Birdsong Training Center program. Both live in
Ventura, California and produce some great bird photography.
Don DesJardin's great shots can be seen at his website.
As he writes, "I have very little
time for photography... I just make sure that what time
I have counts." All of his photos are supurb.
Brad Sillasen has had his photographs on the cover of
WildBird magazine five times as well as two covers
of Birding Magazine. You can see his work at
his website.
Nevada Bird Count
Volunteers needed |
posted
03/07/2003 |
We are still seeking experienced
birders for the statewide volunteer program called Nevada
Bird Count. If you have volunteered for the Breeding Bird
Atlas or for other point-count projects, or if you are
willing to apply your birding skills for the first time
on this huge scientific effort, we would like to hear
from you! You can volunteer for just two days this spring/summer
(one afternoon scoping, one morning doing the survey),
or more often. Limited expense compensation will be available.
You need to have solid bird ID skills, ability and willingness
to travel and hike in remote areas, and GBBO can teach
you the rest in a ½ day workshop which we will
be offering at several location around the state.
if you are interested in helping out.
Birdsong Training
Center |
posted
03/05/2003 |
Do
you want to be better prepared for point count surveys?
Did you always mean to work on your birding skills, but
never got around to learning songs? Well, here is your
chance to delve into “the language” of Nevada
birds in a stress-free, game-like environment.
We are happy to announce a new feature on our website...the
Birdsong Training Center.
This is a learning program which works like a set of flash
cards and helps you learn birdsongs. Our training program
is divided into 20 modules, covering each of thirteen
habitat types of Nevada. We currently have 7 modules online
and will be adding more over the next three months. Eventually
more advanced modules will be added which will, for example,
group birds that have hard-to-distinguish songs/calls.
The Training Center is only available to GBBO members
although there is a limited demonstration section that
we encourage non-members to check out to get a feel for
how the program works. If you are not a member please
join GBBO and enjoy the full
version of the program in addition to participating in
all GBBO activities. If you are already a member,
to gain access to the program.
Slideshow on Great
Basin/Mojave bird habitats (March 12) |
posted
03/06/2003 |
In preparation of the bird survey
season, we would like to invite prospective point-counters,
birders, and other interested parties to the first lecture
of a short series on the natural history of the Great
Basin and Mojave Desert. Our first speaker is Dr.
David Charlet, an authority on Nevada plant communities
and a primo natural historian of this region. Our intent
with this lecture is to familiarize prospective bird surveyors
and birders with the habitats they will encounter in the
field (..."what exactly are montane shrublands, anyway?"),
and to provide an opportunity to learn more about the
fascinating biogeography of plant communities in Nevada.
This will also be an opportunity to ask Dr. Charlet questions
about plant ecology that you might have run across while
birding.
The presentation will be on Wednesday, March 12,
5 - 6 p.m. in the auditorium of the Reno/Washoe
County Public Library (Downtown), at the corner of Liberty
and S Center. No charge. The library is two blocks south
of the CalNeva parking garage (on First St.). Click
here for a map. If you have trouble parking near the
library, please use the CalNeva garage and we can get
you a validation stamp. Hope to see you there!
New GBBO Merchandise! |
posted
12/29/2002 |
We
recently received a generous donation of finest-quality
brass lapel pins. The donor is long-time GBBO supporter
Frank Kratzer, who is known for his top-of-the-line work
and attention to details. For instance, you will notice
on our lapel pins, which display the GBBO logo, that even
the Grebe’s eye color is anatomically correct (i.e.,
red). We will have these pins for sale shortly. GBBO also
offers a new line of T-shirts, displaying art work by
Ray Nelson, in celebration of our new Statewide Bird Monitoring
Program. Click here for
ordering details, including pictures and prices.
Field Workshops |
posted
12/29/2002 |
A series of field workshops is currently
being scheduled to offer our survey volunteers a chance
to practice all aspects of point count surveying. The
workshops will be held during spring migration (March
– mid May), immediately before the point count season
begins. You will get a chance to hone your birding-by-ear
skills, learn how to use GPS and never get lost again,
and find out how surprisingly easy data recording can
be. Please revisit our website for updates on the details.
Lectures and Workshops |
posted
12/29/2002 |
In addition, we are planning a series
of lectures and workshops for our volunteers and the interested
public. The theme of our lectures will be “Natural
History of the Great Basin”. Of course, much of
the series will be about birds, but other interesting
topics will also be covered. For instance, plant ecologist
David Charlet, who is well-known for his extensive work
on coniferous plant communities of the Great Basin, has
agreed to give a lecture on the biogeography and ecology
of the vegetation types that we encounter during our bird
surveys. Also, Jennifer Newmark of the Nevada Heritage
Program will give a lecture on sensitive species of Nevada.
For specifics on the lecture schedule, please revisit
the website in the next few weeks.
GBBO Publications |
12/29/2002 |
We are still behind on publishing
our 2002 comprehensive newsletter. Getting this done will
be the next order of business here at GBBO. Expect the
newsletter to be in your mail box some time in January.
Meanwhile, volume 5 of Great Basin Birds has been published.
To find out what’s in it and to order a copy, click
here.
The deadline for submitting manuscripts for our next
issue of Great Basin Birds, volume 6, is 1 March
2003. Click
here for author’s guidelines and more information.
GBBO is currently in its final stretch
of playing catch-up with its regular business. Some of
our supporters have begun to wonder what we’ve been
up to in the past 8 months or so. This lag time in GBBO
updates was entirely due to the incredible amount of work
caused by our transition into a new, big program (Statewide
Bird Monitoring Program) and changes in personnel
associated with it (click here
for info on GBBO’s new science director).
Statewide Bird
Monitoring Program |
11/07/2002 |
Our new Statewide
Bird Monitoring Program is already taking on a (thrilling)
life of its own. Based on our latest tally, we completed
over 130 point count transects in our first year (2002)
- and we really only had half a field season available
to finish them! We are currently processing and analyzing
the data to help fine-tune the survey
protocol, and to determine the final lay-out and number
of transects we need to cover next year and in future
years. This is an exciting project to get involved in
for those who have birding skills and want to make a tangible
contribution to bird conservation research. Click here
to learn more about how to get involved.
New Field Office |
11/07/2002 |
GBBO has a new field office! It is
in the historic McCarran Ranch house, which The Nature
Conservancy of Nevada (TNC) recently purchased. The property
is located along the Truckee River about 15 miles east
of Reno and includes 5 miles of river front that TNC is
setting aside for restoration and protection. Although
the property is not yet open to the general public, we
invite our members to visit us. To arrange a visit, please
call (775-771-7107) or
ahead to make arrangements.
GBBO Publications |
11/07/2002 |
What happened to the usual GBBO publications,
such as the GBBO newsletter and Great Basin Birds? Well,
you hit on a sensitive subject here at GBBO… As
our members have already noticed, we haven’t published
a newsletter in some time, and volume 5 of Great Basin
Birds is also overdue. However, we plan to make up for
it shortly. Volume 5 of Great Basin Birds is currently
being printed and should be in a mailbox near you before
the end of the month. For more details on volume 5, click
here. We are
also working on the 2002 issue of the GBBO newsletter,
which is an expanded version of our regular biannual newsletter.
This issue will cover the entire year of 2002. Next year,
we plan to revert to our regular schedule of a spring
and a fall newsletter. We apologize for any inconvenience
these publication schedule changes may have caused.
Volunteer
activities |
11/07/2002 |
We are also
currently working on plans for workshops, field trips,
and other get-togethers for current and prospective
volunteers, as well as others who are interested.
Specifically, we have in the works workshops on bird
identification (particularly by ear) and on bird mist-netting
and banding, as well as a lecture series on the natural
history of the Great Basin and the northern Mojave
Desert. Please look for announcements on this website,
starting in about a month.
Statewide Bird
Monitoring Program |
09/05/2002 |
The exciting first season of our
new Statewide Bird Monitoring
Program. With the conclusion of the Nevada Breeding
Bird Atlas work (more details on the status
of the Atlas), GBBO has delved into this brand new volunteer-based
project. Learn more about the monitoring program, the
survey protocol we are using,
and how you can get
involved.
Statewide Bird
Monitoring Program |
09/05/2002 |
The exciting first season of our
new Statewide Bird Monitoring
Program. With the conclusion of the Nevada Breeding
Bird Atlas work (more details on the status
of the Atlas), GBBO has delved into this brand new volunteer-based
project. Learn more about the monitoring program, the
survey protocol we are using,
and how you can get
involved.
More MAPS stations |
09/05/2002 |
Our core group of bird banders has
expanded their efforts to include three additional mist-netting
stations along the Carson River. Bird banders are one
of our most active group of volunteers. Find out more
about our bird banding projects and how to get
involved.
Changing faces |
09/05/2002 |
The recent brief hiatus in some of
GBBO's operations (including web site updates) was due
to the departure of Ted Floyd to his new job at the American
Birding Association. Look for his editorials in upcoming
issues of Birding. Elisabeth
M. Ammon was hired in May as the new Bird Monitoring
Coordinator and has since been busy implementing the pilot
phase of the monitoring program.
Updating
Website |
09/05/2002 |
Please continue
to look for updates and new features on this webpage
in upcoming months!
Special
Thanks |
09/05/2002 |
Thanks to all the
great volunteers who participated in our bird monitoring
adventures this summer!!
