Perhaps our most exciting new endeavor, the statewide
bird monitoring project, is already under way. The pilot
phase of the project began this past summer, and now,
we are looking for additional bird surveyors for the
summer of 2003. We plan to expand the program substantially
over the next year or two and we need your help with
that!
What is it like to be a surveyor?
Working
as a GBBO point count surveyor in the vast backcountry
of Nevada is ideal for the adventurous type. You will
be asked to rely on yourself and your companion when
visiting relatively remote and wild areas of Nevada.
The rewards are incomparable. You will be treated to
sightings of rare wildlife, howling coyotes, soothing
silence, liberating views of an ancient landscape, and
the satisfaction of helping the cause of bird conservation
in Nevada. Aside from being treated to some of the "best"
birds, of course. You can be a surveyor for just one
summer weekend, or for any period of time up to the
entire length of the breeding season (6 - 8 weeks).
Depending on how many transects you are able to complete,
we have different levels of compensation for your expenses
available.
What skills do I need for surveying?
If you have excellent bird ID skills by sight and sound,
and if you have no significant hearing problems, you
are qualified. You do not necessarily need to have experience
with point count surveys, although experience with any
kind of standard bird survey technique helps. For instance,
most of our Breeding Bird Atlas volunteers will find
point count surveys to be easy after a brief adjustment
period.
If you have moderate bird ID skills, don't worry, because
we will be offering workshops for honing bird ID skills
and surveying techniques. If you feel comfortable with
visual bird ID and are, in general, tuned into detecting
the presence of birds by sound, you are already on your
way. At a minimum, we would ask you to learn the vocalizations
of the 10, or so, most common birds of one habitat type
prior to doing surveys in that habitat. If you are new
to bird identification, we recommend that you join birding
trips offered in our birding community, as well as accompany
an experienced surveyor as a helper prior to becoming
a surveyor.
Secondly,
we offer instructions on how to navigate around the
landscape using Global Positioning System (GPS). With
very few exceptions, we expect all our surveyors to
be able to use GPS to make sure that they are able to
locate the transects quickly and safely. Our experience
has been that those volunteers, who have never used
GPS before, are typically surprised at how easy it is.
We have several hand-held GPS receivers available to
loan to surveyors, and we will offer GPS workshops prior
to next year's surveys for those interested in a "dry-run."
Please contact
if you are interested in this opportunity.
