Hi folks - We sent the request for help last night, without mentioning that
the work entailed monitoring of GBHerons! Here's a re-try. Again, please
contact Don Norman at the address/phone below if you're willing and able to
help.

Many thanx for whatever assistance you can provide,

Jon. Anderson
Olympia, Washington
festuca at olywa.net

----- Original Message -----
From: <Donorman at aol.com>
Subject: Let's Try Tweeters again


> Dear Tweeters Folks -
>
> Jon Anderson has graciously posted this request for volunteers to help
collect data on Great Blue Herons as part of developing a baseline protocol
for monitoring herons at marine foraging areas (aerially) as part of the
PSAMP program to track trends of marine birds (PSAMP is the Puget Sound
Ambient Monitoring Program). They have also produced some great info on the
catrastrophic decline of many of our wintering seabirds, from loons to
grebes to scoters, to which each and every one of your birders out there
should yell at WDFW and the Governor and PSAT to help study this issue and
rectify it!!
>
> This foraging area project is one of the first projects to be approved by
the transboundary Heron Working Group. We will be holding some training
next year to identify juveniles, second year and adult birds at foraging
areas and we welcome any volunteers to get trained to help report these
categories. Overwintering mortality of juveniles and 2nd year/adult ratios
are the next project at the HWG, as a method to build annual survival rates.
>
> Heron Big Sit Returns in 2003 Bigger and Sittier than Ever!!
>
> Thanks to the great help of Gerald Hayes and Eric Cummings at WDFW,
Michelle Tirhi, Joe Evenson, Trish Thompson (all of WDFW) and I, with the
support of the Heron Working Group, (a BC-WA transboundary group of heron
experts), have been refining some information needs to complete baseline
observations at heron colonies and foraging area this May and June to
prepare for a 3 year WDFW trend analysis for monitoring herons at marine
foraging areas. We have some flight funds for the PSAMP crew to fly,
hopefully not just the Everett to Point Roberts route as we did in 2001, but
also some other parts of the Sound.
>
> As in the 2001 Heron Big Sit, we will need volunteers to groundtruth the
minus tide heron foraging locations that the WDFW Avian program PSAMP (Puget
Sound Ambient Monitoring Program) will fly on minus tides to count herons
when the colonies are at the large chick phase. This year we will focus
more on collecting higher quality data over a minus tidal cycle at choice
locations so we can produce some foraging area use distributions from which
we can make corrections to the number of herons that were seen by the plane
at that site during its overflight. We will also need volunteers to provide
attendance at colonies at the same time to ensure that birds are not
roosting at the colony at points during the minus tide (more of a
confirmation directly linked to counts rather than the indirect evidence we
collected in 2001). So, we are looking for volunteers!! YOU!!
>
> The dates appear to be during the period of June 13-17 minus tides, as
well as possible dates during the previous minus tide cycle in late May
(assuming we can get the plane). We also need some updates for the status
of colonies, epspecially those in the south Sound and Hood Canal, to
determine if they are good colonies to use. Obviously, we would like
colonies where we can make observations w/o causing disturbance, typically
viewing a portion of the nests from outside the colony. From the list
below, please pick a colony and give me the following information. Any
anecdotal info is needed!!
>
> Please send me your interest plus:
> Available dates, weekend vs non-weekend
> Any transportation issues (ie, can you drive, and can you take people)
> Skill level, do you have a telescope
> Any locations you prefer
>
> Training date availability (Trainings will be May 18th and during the week
after then). If those do not work, we can hold some others.
>
> We will not be trying to cover all areas as in 2001, but selected colonies
that can be easily viewed to get attendance rates over a low tide and
foraging areas that appear to be the primnary spot for foraging for the
colony. Obviously we are ignoring the large freshwater colonies in the
Central Sound (Issaquah Creek, Black River, and American Lake), but we will
try and get a count of herons along the Central Sound eastern shore to
determine just how many herons are using these more urbanized shorelines.
There will be a focus upon the central Sound western boundaries, such the
Bainbridge colonies.
>
> The Tasks at Hand
>
> 1. Same as in the Big Sit - watch the Foraging Area for a 4 hour period,
with a map every 20 minutes (rather than 15 min) - marking all herons on the
map of the area (12 maps total). For the more bored at heart, arrival and
departure directions can be done.
>
> 2. We also need volunteers to watch the colony for the same time period.
At some locations it could be worked in with some beach watching with
another volunteer. We need to document that the herons aren't roosting at
the colony (or other locations), making the #s oin the foraging area low.
>
> 3. We are looking for volunteers who want to go out and help determine
the status of these colonies right now in early May
>
> 4. We would also like someone to take on a foraging area and visit it for
at least 3 times over a minus tide cycle to determine if the number of
herons stays the same over each of the days (do herons get full and fewer #s
come out later??). This is great for people who live near these sites.
This does not have to be the June 13-17 period, especially for other
locations further along in nesting.
>
> The LOCATIONS
> We have broken the inland waters into the 4 classic portions. One should
be near you or your favorite place!! Please help us out one day.
>
> Northern Inland Waters (Everett to Pt Roberts).
> Robertson Road/Lummi Peninsula - we will need access to the dikes again
from the tribe.
> Cultus Bay - Whidbey - we still need some access worked out, but Jeff
Cordell at the UW is helping me.
> Tulalip Bay (we still do not know where the colony is located)
> Ault Field - Medium - we will hope to get NAS bios to help with the colony
stuff.
>
> Central Sound
> Fay Bainbridge State Park- access to the colony is limited
> Des Moines/Dumas Bay (which ever is active)
>
> South Sound
> Woodward Bay (DNR Site) on Henderson Inlet small
> Purdy Spit - Henderson Bay/Burley Lagoon medium
> Mud Bay - medium east of Olympia
> Near Allyn -small - North Bay in Case Inlet the colony location is not
confirmed
>
> Hood Canal - we are hoping for some help from Trudy Davis here on sites
Hamma Hamma - medium - colony access unknown Seabeck -medium colony access
unknown
>
> Please get in touch with me if you are interested. Also let me know if
you want a 2001 report. I can email it as a word file and also as a set of
excel files. A copy costs about $10 to copy and make.
>
> don
> Donald Norman
> Norman Wildlife Consulting
> 2112 NW 199th
> Shoreline, WA 98177
> (206) 542-1275
>
> Wildlife and Environmental Toxicology