Subject: Re: New Horizons (was 'When the Lifers Dry Up')
Date: Mar 12 17:58:00 1997
From: bboek at olympus.net - bboek at olympus.net


>
>On Tue, 11 Mar 1997, DAVID NUNNALLEE wrote:
>
>
>> I was a little saddened by the thread "When the Lifers Dry Up".
>Saddened? Because there is so much more out there to see and do,

Another contribution that all of us can make to the bird world is to
actually go out and collect some data about the birds that we see
everyday, above and beyond just putting our sightings into "lists." Is
there a body of water out there (or some other habitat) that you can
census regularly over several years, to track changes in populations over
time? Or compare bird densities and use of different habitats, such as
clear-cuts vs. young forests vs. older forests. Or compare microhabitat
use by similar species, such as by different warblers. Are there
behavioral observations that you can make, such as frequency of songs or
calls, chick feeding rates, time budgets, or interactions with other
species? How about mapping some territories this spring, if you have
songbirds nearby? By trying to quantify what we see in a more systematic
fashion, I bet we'd find out a whole lot more about the birds of
Washington. Those Song Sparrows and towhees singing in your backyard may
be just as interesting as a Siberian Accentor in Idaho.

The journal _Washington Birds_ would be a great place for these data to
end up, as short contributions.

Sure wish I didn't have a job, so I could do some of these things!

Bob Boekelheide
Sequim



Bob and Barb Boekelheide, bboek at olympus.net