On the eastern plains, locating the "shelter belts" that surround rural farmsteads is critical to adding avian diversity to otherwise single habitat blocks. Yuma County, Colorado. June 6, 2011.
Marcel Such is a high school senior from Lyons, Colorado. We asked him to share a bit about his involvement in various bird projects, and to give some advice to young birders wishing to use their skills for bird monitoring and conservation:
Birding is a terrific hobby and submitting checklists to eBird is a great first step in taking that hobby to the next level. If you are reading this, I think it is safe to assume that you have already discovered that eBird is about the best thing ever. I can still remember my discovery of eBird back in 2006, when I was 11 years old. I was ecstatic because I could now count birds for a project, just like the Great Backyard Bird Count, except I could count wherever I wanted, all year long.
Perhaps you have considered becoming involved or are already involved with one or more of the other types of projects available to birders today. In my own experience, some of these more specialized and localized projects—such as breeding bird atlases, county-funded conservation projects, and Audubon-sponsored surveys—can seem clouded in mystery and the adults who manage them can often seem a bit intimidating. However, once you break the ice, these projects can and will turn into priceless experiences.
These projects contain, by necessity, a wide variety of tasks, ranging from small and basic to large and complex. Many people search for high-profile opportunities, but often overlook the simple yet significant ones. My first projects started out very small, such as keeping the group checklists for morning bird walks with the Boulder Bird Club. These little jobs grew in complexity and importance as my own skills increased and matured, and as the elder members of my birding community came to trust my abilities. While my brother, Joel, and I started out by participating in a couple of local Christmas Bird Counts as tag-alongs with a group of older birders, we soon had total command of our very own area for the Boulder count, one of the most well-attended birding events in Colorado.
Atlasing adds a new dimension to your birding pursuits. Brewer’s Sparrow breeding confirmation (carrying food, or “CF”), and a Common Nighthawk in the background. Pawnee National Grasslands, Weld County, Colorado. June 18, 2010.
Over the years, our opportunities to participate in real world projects have continued to expand and broaden. In 2008, Joel and I were asked to assist at a long-standing banding station near Boulder where we became accomplished in everything from net management to data recording to the actual banding. In 2011, we were offered the lead editorial position for a column in the Colorado Field Ornithologists’ journal, Colorado Birds. In a quarterly review called News from the Field, we summarized the state’s noteworthy avian sightings, along with weather data and other useful information to help create an accurate picture for the historical ornithological record. Though this took a lot of hard, mind-numbing labor, writing News from the Field was an unparalleled educational experience.
Throughout my journey to becoming the birder that I am today, I have learned to take advantage of the small, seemingly inconsequential jobs that contribute to the conservation efforts in my community. As I graduate from high school this spring, I’ve managed to put together a respectable resume of my volunteer work, which includes Burrowing Owl surveys, point counts on a riparian system, work as a naturalist instructor for middle school students, and publishing. With a lot of patience, the sum of these experiences can even lead you to a “nice gig” here and there, such as paid survey work. Volunteering to survey a local block for the second Colorado Breeding Bird Atlas led to weeks of paid atlasing and a chance to explore biologically diverse riparian zones on the plains of Eastern Colorado. As I prepare for my college years, I look forward to finding new fieldwork and research opportunities as I take my ornithological interests to the next level. My advice to you is to keep your birding simple, take advantage of opportunities as they come, and have fun!