Category Archives: citizen science

helping out

Happy Earth Day! The birds are beginning to nest.

. birds, citizen science . , , ,

Robin's nest under my porch eave

What better way to celebrate Earth Day than by focusing on new life.

The local residents birds have begun to nest. They are setting up nests in the prime locations before most of the migrants arrive.

Nests are by design most times hard to find. You have to watch bird behavior as to clues of where to look. Nest watch has “How to Find Nests” information” on its website.
Nest Watch is a citizen science project sponsored by the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology. Amateur naturalists, like you and me, monitor the success rate of nests and report their finding to the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology. You can learn about the program and sign up at nestwatch.org

bird nest

Cicada Tracker on SciStarter

. Animals, citizen science, news . ,
17-year periodic cicada, Magicicada sp. brood ...

17-year periodic cicada, Magicicada sp. brood XIII, 2007. Photographed at Lisle, Illinois. Shown with Kentucky Coffee Tree – Gymnocladus dioicus (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The 17-year Cicada are due to emerge between mid April and June from Connecticut to Georgia. The big insects emerge when the ground is sixty-four degrees Fahrenheit. SciStarter has  instructions on building a thermometer and how to track the emergence.

Build Your Own Cicada Tracker on SciStarter.

You can track them and report your findings on the WYNC website. http://project.wnyc.org/cicadas/

Have you lived through a Cicada emergence? Share your experience. – WNYC

Brood XIII Magicicada septendecim 17 year cica...

Brood XIII Magicicada septendecim 17 year cicada nymph instar, from the south suburbs of Chicago. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

A Cold Winter’s Day for Bird Counting

. birds, citizen science . , , ,
Eastern Bluebird perched on birdhouse

Eastern Bluebird (courtesy US Fish &Wildlife Service;Dr.Thomas G. Barnes/University of Kentucky) - The bird I wish I had seen.

This past Saturday was my first Christmas Bird Count. Overview it was the 112th Audubon sponsored Bird Count since it began.

The day was clear and sunny. The bare brown trees and shrubs had a restful zen quality. A bareness, a wabi-sabi kinda of vibe.

There was a cleansing to the cold breeze. The cloudless sky and bright sun made it a wonderful winter day to be outside.

There are many ways in which the Christmas Bird Count helps birds. When the data from the Christmas Bird Count is combined with that of the Breeding Bird Survey, researchers can figure out how bird populations have changed in different times and places.

The ‘Count’ is finished for this year, but here is what happens in case you want to go help out next year.

Volunteer Citizen Scientists met at the Schuylkill Center for Environmental Education at 8:30 a.m. The Schuylkill Center has participated in the Christmas Bird Count for the past 60 years. The property is mapped out into sections. Then means there is sixty-years worth of population data for this land in Philadelphia.

There were perhaps a total of twenty-four people participating in the Christmas Bird Count. There were small children with pint-sized binoculars, seasoned birders senior citizens  and teenagers who dared to be different.

We assembled in a room and were briefed as to how to enter data. Then we choose our groups and areas we wanted to cover. Some folks have chosen to tally the same area of the property for years.

After the overview, we stuffed our pockets with free granola bars and fruit and headed off into the chilly morning air. Each group takes a section of the Center property.

Each group traveled with an expert birder. Leigh, the leader of my group, is a woman who knows her birds. She knew the call sounds and sounds of all the birds we were searching for.

Our group’s section was the perimeter of the Schuylkill Center property. We walked along a paved path and tallied the species we heard or saw.

We walked and talked.  And we were  in raptures over a Red-tailed Hawk that perched on a pole and a mixed band of Vultures, both Black and Turkey, that hung out on a tall pylon.

After the count. We all meet back at the Center. Over hot tea, Leigh called out species and groups called out their totals. There was a friendly competition as to what group saw the most of one species. No one spotted the resident Bald Eagle that has been hanging out around the Center this winter.

My little group saw twenty-four species of birds. The combined tally of all the birds spotted came to thirty-seven species and hundreds of individual birds.

My group saw/heard many species including many that visit bird feeders:

  • 1 Red-bellied and 3 Downy Woodpeckers
  • 19 Blue Jays
  • 9 Black Vultures
  • 10 Turkey Vultures
  • 6 Tufted Titmice
  • 5 Carolina Wrens
  • 4 Song Sparrows
  • 100 Red-winged Blackbirds
  • and only 11 House Sparrows

I wish I had seen the eight Eastern Bluebirds that other birders did. And the Snow Goose. But, I had a good day. Not bad for a cool winter’s day in Philadelphia.

How to Create a Seasonal Round – Part 2

. citizen science, indigenous philosophy, nature journaling . , , ,
strawberries grown in my garden

strawberries grown in my garden

By constructing our own local seasonal rounds we tune into the rhythms of the land.

This year I will attempt to create a seasonal round. I suspect it will take more than one year to create. I am sure times will have to be adjusted and fine tuned.

The first steps are to identify those plants and animals of your local area which traditionally fed, clothed and housed humans.

A seasonal round can push us to search for and observe those plants and animals which were abundant and edible. Some plants and animals we will not be able to find. This would show us just how much our ecosystems have been altered. This knowledge can spur us to restore plants and animals that are uncommon.

Not to overwhelm ourselves, we can limited how many plants we study. If you combine creating a seasonal round with phenology, your observations maybe valuable to citizen science projects like Project BudBurst or the National Phenology Network.

Seasonal round on Coal River, West Virginia Source: Library of Congress American Memory collection

Seasonal round on Coal River, West Virginia Source: Library of Congress American Memory collection

Here is a blank seasonal-round-diagram to print out and fill in. Seasonal round, part 1 has links to examples of  ways in which seasonal rounds can be filled in.

Tips

  • Chose a plant or two from each season
  • Note when animals are most abundant (usually during migration and spawning times)
  • Note when foods are abundant or at the peak of flavor

What to Include

A seasonal round can include this kind of information.

  • fishing season (spawning of fish)
  • hunting season (migration of ducks, geese, etc.)
  • planting season of garden crops
  • gathering edible plants  (berries, nuts, mushrooms, fresh greens, roots, and herbs)
  • food storage and preservation (canning tomatoes, drying fruits, etc.)
  • gathering herbal medicines
  • gathering raw materials (baskets, weaving, etc.)
  • when seasonal foods are available in farmer’s markets
  • seasonal celebrations
  • moon phases
  • solstices, equinoxes, cross-quarter days
  • annual appearances of comets
  • seasonal star cycle
  • blossoming of flowers
  • appearance of insects and pollinators
Indigenous Concord grapes growing in my garden.

Indigenous Concord grapes growing in my garden.

Creating a seasonal round is a new and different project in nature journaling.  It combines following the seasons, phenology, learning the natural history of plants and animals, phases of the sun, moon and stars, and human celebrations.

A seasonal round is a fun and fascinating way to live with the natural rhythms of the land.