Volunteer birders needed at Manassas!

Interested in being a volunteer birder for Manassas?!?!

Please contact Carolyn Williams at cwilliae@gmu.edu or 703.273.1961.

I coordinate the Northern Virginia Bird Survey (NVBS), The Audubon Society of Northern Virginia's breeding bird point-count now in its 13th year. (Until fairly recently ASNV was called the Fairfax Audubon Society.) This year we lost the services of three of our long-time master birders (team leaders) for Manassas National Battlefield Park (two moved from the area and another was overbooked). I am looking for several master birders (defined as one who can identify by sight or sound all the bird species one would expect to encounter in N. Va. during June) to replace them. Our count protocol is a simple one, a one-time, five-minute count at each 250-meter (about 0.15 mile) grid point. The count is done between dawn and about 8:30 a.m. in June.* Master birders can survey alone or with one or more assistants, but only the master birder identifies the birds to be logged in. Information collected includes species, number of individuals, evidence of breeding activity (using codes), date and time of the count, sky and weather conditions (using codes). Flyovers are indicated. Survey instructions, detailed field maps, and data sheets will be provided. About sixty points are involved, and of these twenty-nine have been GPSed. You can survey as many of the points as you like. I am pushing the GPSed points as they have been surveyed the longest. They are located in the north central part of the park.
*Under the circumstances, I think we can extend the deadline to at least July 7.
For further information contact Carolyn Williams at cwilliae@gmu.edu or 703.273.1961.
Thanks.
Carolyn