Community Science (Bird Counts)
=============================================================================================================== The Breeding Bird Survey is a cooperative effort between the U.S. Geological Survey’s Patuxent Wildlife Research Center and Environment Canada’s Canadian Wildlife Service to monitor the status and trends of North American bird populations. Following a rigorous protocol, BBS data are collected by thousands of dedicated participants along thousands of randomly established roadside routes throughout the continent. For more information visit: http://www.pwrc.usgs.gov/bbs/ For more info, contact Laura Hubers, SD Coordinator: http://www.pwrc.usgs.gov/bbs/contactus/USContacts.cfm#SD
=================================================================================================================The Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC) – February 17-20, 2023,
This event repeats annually. February the world comes together for the love of birds. https://www.birdcount.org, https://www.audubon.org/conservation/about-great-backyard-bird-count
The Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC) is a free, fun, and easy event that engages bird watchers of all ages in counting birds to create a real-time snapshot of bird populations. Participants are asked to count birds for as little as 15 minutes (or as long as they wish) on one or more days of the four-day event and report their sightings online at birdcount.org. Anyone can take part in the Great Backyard Bird Count, from beginning bird watchers to experts, and you can participate from your backyard, or anywhere in the world.
=================================================================================================================
Climate Watch – Spring Season – May 15th-June 15th
Climate Watch is sponsored by the National Audubon Society (NAS) & takes place during two distinct seasons—winter (January 15-February 15) and summer (May 15-June 15). Below is the alert about summer 2023, the latest season .
May 15th- June 15th, 2023
Like the Christmas bird count this is a chance to help create “citizen science” for birds. Climate Watch focuses on these target species: Eastern Bluebird, Mountain Bluebird, Western Bluebird, White-breasted Nuthatch, Red-breasted Nuthatch, Brown-headed Nuthatch, Pygmy Nuthatch, American Goldfinch, Lesser Goldfinch, Painted Bunting, Eastern Towhee, and Spotted Towhee.
These birds are easy to identify, have an enthusiastic constituency, and Audubon’s climate models for these species offer strong predictions for range shifts for us to test. In future years, Climate Watch may include additional target species threatened by climate change. We believe that western bluebird and painted bunting are not normally in SD. All the other birds occur in all or parts of SD.
Visit this page to see where these birds are in SD, and which are near you:
Location Climate Watch focuses on areas of predicted change for these 12 species at each location across the continent. Audubon provides volunteers with online mapping tools with a grid of 10 km x 10 km squares showing species-specific predictions for each square based on the climate models. A Climate Watch Coordinator can help select your location and survey square. If you are participating on your own, use the online maps to decide in which square to do your surveys. You will be able to see which squares are already “claimed”.
How to count Volunteers should first make sure to read through all of the materials including the full protocol manual. The Climate Watch protocol is different than any other birding program. Then using the planning done with the online maps, volunteers survey appropriate habitat for the target species within a square and conduct 12 point counts of five minutes each within one morning, then record the number and species of all birds seen or heard within 100 meters. Participants send the data to the National Audubon Society.
How data will be used Audubon’s 2019 climate change report, ‘Survival By Degrees, – https://www.audubon.org/climate/survivalbydegrees – reveals that up to two-thirds of North American birds are vulnerable to extinction due to climate change. For example, the beautiful Mountain Bluebird is vulnerable because in the vast majority of its summer range, the climate conditions that this bird needs—temperature, amount of rainfall, and other environmental factors—will shift northward and eastward. This bird may be able to move into new areas over time, or it may struggle to adapt. To test the report’s predictions, Audubon has developed Climate Watch, which aims to document species’ responses to climate change and test Audubon’s climate models by having volunteers in the field look for birds where Audubon’s climate models predict they will be in the 2020s. This information helps Audubon target our conservation work to protect birds. See the Climate Watch results page here to see our early reports and results from the data received by Climate Watch volunteers so far!
Link to the Climate-watch program on the National Audubon Society web page
https://www.audubon.org/conservation/climate-watch
Climate watch instructions for participants
Climate watch for beginners webinar, – this has much of the same info as our November meeting
=================================================================================================================
Click here for Results of Christmas Bird Counts December 2021
Wind Cave National Park CBC, Sunday December 11th 2022, Angela Jarding: angela_jarding@nps.gov
Harding County CBC, Sunday 12/18/22, Jessica Howell: jhowell@abcbirds.org (Bad Weather alternate date)
Rapid City CBC, Sunday, 12/18/22, Michael Melius: mmmelius@hotmail.com
Pierre CBC, , Saturday, 12/19/22, Ricky Olson: tatanka40@pie.midco.net, (Bad Weather alternate date)
Sturgis CBC, Friday, December 23rd. Eric Davis: speargoose@gmail.com, (Bad Weather alternate date)
Spearfish CBC, 1/1/23, Daniel Bjerke: dlbjerke@midco.net
Badlands National Park CBC,1/1/23, NancyDrilling:dril0008@gmail.com
Pine Ridge CBC, 1/3/23, Peter Hill: petermhill@yahoo.com
Shadehill CBC, 1/3/23, Greg Schonert: Gregory.Schonert@usda.gov – (Bad Weather alternate date)
Bison CBC, Not happening , Meghan Dinkins, meghandinkins@hotmail.com
Piedmont CBC, Not happening, Gene Hess, gene@neopaleo.net,
Hot Springs CBC, Not happening, Duane Weber, mmcurtin@gwtc.net
======================================================================================================================
ANNOUNCING THE CHRISTMAS BIRD COUNTS IN OUR REGION
This is a list of Christmas Bird Counts in South Dakota and immediate parts of nearby states.
It is created by Prairie Hills Audubon Society of Western SD.
December 14th, 2022-January 5th, 2023
Christmas Bird Counts
https://www.audubon.org/conservation/science/christmas-bird-count
December 14th- January 5th
Audubon’s 123rd Annual Christmas Bird Count (CBC)
All official counts will be held between the dates, Wednesday, December 14th, 2022 through, Thursday, January 5th, 2023. This year the start of the season overlapped with a 4-day blizzard in parts of the region. Some counts have been rescheduled and we may not have discovered all the rescheduled dates.
This year, the Audubon Christmas Bird Count will mobilize nearly 80,000 volunteer bird counters in more than 2,600 locations across the United States, Canada, the Caribbean and Latin America. The Audubon Christmas Bird Count utilizes the power of volunteers to track the health of bird populations at a scale that scientists could never accomplish alone.
The censuses provide valuable data about the number of bird species and numbers of each species occurring within set geographic areas on an early winter day. The results are compiled into the longest running database in ornithology, representing 123 years of unbroken data on trends of early-winter bird populations across the Americas.
When combined with other surveys such as the Breeding Bird Survey, Audubon’s Christmas Bird Count provides a picture of how the continent’s bird populations have changed in time and space over the past hundred years. The long-term perspective is vital for conservationists. It informs strategies to protect birds and their habitat, and helps identify environmental issues with implications for people as well. Christmas Bird Count data have been used in more than 300 peer-reviewed articles.
Birders of all ages are welcome to contribute to this fun, nationwide community science project, which provides ornithologists with a crucial snapshot of our native bird populations during the winter months. Each individual count is performed in a count circle with a diameter of 15 miles. At least ten volunteers, including a compiler to coordinate the process, normally count in each circle. The volunteers break up into small parties and follow assigned routes, which change little from year to year, counting every bird they see. In most
count circles, some people also watch feeders instead of following routes.
Interested birders must arrange with the count compiler in advance to participate.
What to bring?
Participants should bring lunch, drinking water, warm clothing and footwear. Binoculars, field guides and spotting scopes are suggested, for those who have them.
The five-dollar fee has been dropped to encourage more participation and the annual published report, (American Birds) previously available in paper has been made digital – see link:
https://www.audubon.org/content/american-birds-annual-summary-christmas-bird-count
Links to CBC web pages:
https://www.audubon.org/conservation/science/christmas-bird-count
To find a count near you on an interactive map:
https://audubon.maps.arcgis.com/apps/View/index.html?appid=ac275eeb01434cedb1c5dcd0fd3fc7b4
Other links:
SOUTH DAKOTA
https://phas-wsd.org/citizen-science/
http://sdoubirds.org/SDOU/Calendar.aspx
NEBRASKA:
http://www.noubirds.org/Activities/CBC.aspx
MINNESOTA:
http://moumn.org/CBC/cal/calendar.php
IOWA
https://iowabirds.org/Connections/CBC.aspx
WESTERN SOUTH DAKOTA’s CHRISTMAS BIRD COUNTS
WIND CAVE NATIONAL PARK, SD, CHRISTMAS BIRD COUNT,
Sunday December 11th 2022,
. Contact: Angela Jarding, angela_jarding@nps.gov , (605)-745-1157,
(This is not an National Audubon Society affiliated count)
HARDING COUNTY, CHRISTMAS BIRD COUNT
12/18/2022, This is the bad weather alternate date
Meet in the Tatanka Plaza parking lot in Buffalo at 8 am
Contact: Jessica Howell, 605-375-3218, jhowell@abcbirds.org
RAPID CITY, SD, CHRISTMAS BIRD COUNT,
12/18/2022*
Contact: Michael Melius, mmmelius@hotmail.com, 605-255-4766
PIERRE/FT. PIERRE, SD, CHRISTMAS BIRD COUNT,
Saturday, 12/19/2022, This is the bad weather alternate date
Ricky Olson, tatanka40@pie
STURGIS, SD, CHRISTMAS BIRD COUNT,
Friday,12/23/22, This is the bad weather alternate:
Contact: Erik Davis: speargoose@gmail.com
BADLANDS NATIONAL PARK, SD, CHRISTMAS BIRD COUNT,
1/1/2023
Contact: Nancy Drilling, dril0008@gmail.com, 605-791-0459.
SPEARFISH, SD, CHRISTMAS BIRD COUNT,
1/1/2023,
Meet at McDonalds at 7:30 a.m. MT
Contact: Daniel Bjerke, 605-381-0493, dlbjerke@midco.net
PINE RIDGE RESERVATION, SD, CHRISTMAS BIRD COUNT,
1/3/2023
Contact: Peter Hill, petermhill@yahoo.com, 605-441-9346.
SHADEHILL, SD, CHRISTMAS BIRD COUNT,
1/3/2023 This is the bad weather alternate
Contact: Greg Schonert, gregory.schonert@usda.gov
Greg’s Phone: 701-989-7309 (office) 701-202-0833 (cell), Forest Service (Grand River District) 605-374-3592
PIEDMONT, SD, CHRISTMAS BIRD COUNT,
It is not happening this season – a new compiler is needed
Contact: Gene Hess: gene@neopaleo.net,
BISON, CHRISTMAS BIRD COUNT
It is not happening this season – Contact: Meghan Dinkins,
meghandinkins@hotmail.com, Meghan.f.dinkins@usda.gov
HOT SPRINGS, SD, CHRISTMAS BIRD COUNT,
It is not happening this season
Contact: Duane or Marie Weber – (605) 673-2032, mmcurtin@gwtc.net
===========
EASTERN SOUTH DAKOTA’s CHRISTMAS BIRD COUNTS
Aberdeen Christmas Bird Count,
12/17/2022 *
Contact: Gary T Olson – olsonfam@nvc.net, 605-885-6284
Mitchell Christmas Bird Count, –
12/17/2022
Contact: Jeff Hansen, jeff.hansen.sd@gmail.com, 785-806-6917
Brookings Christmas Bird Count,
12/17/2022
Contact: Mary Pearson, margypearson1@gmail.com, (605-651-1652)
Sioux Falls Christmas Bird Count,
12/17/2022
Contact: Chris Anderson, canderson1@sio.midco.net, 605-254-2550
Yankton Christmas Bird Count,
12/18/2022
Contact: Roger Dietrich: 1947rogerd@gmail.com, (605) 660-6247,
Sand Lake N.W.R. Christmas Bird Count,
12/19/2022 This is the bad weather alternate.
Contact: Lindsey Wickre, lindsey_wickre@fws.gov, 605-228-8421,
Waubay N.W.R. Christmas Bird Count,
12/20/2022
Contact: Brad Johnson – 605-947-4521, brad_johnson@fws.gov
Canton Christmas Bird Count,
12/31/2022
Contact: Chris Anderson, canderson1@sio.midco.net, 605-254-2550
Madison Christmas Bird Count,
TBD – original date will be rescheduled
Contact: Jeffrey S. Palmer, jeff.palmer@dsu.edu, (605) 256-5190
Huron Christmas Bird Count,
TBD- original date will be rescheduled
Contact: Ryan Thompson, ryemel4@santel.net
Lake Andes Christmas Bird Count,
It is not happening this season: 2022-23 and it needs a new compiler to volunteer,
Contact: Mick Hanan, mick_hanan@fws.gov,
SOME OTHER CBC DATES, NEAR SD BUT IN NEARBY STATES:
Christmas bird counts in other states, that are near enough, that SD folks may be interested in them –
We are especially interested those CBCs close to us in western SD
SOME OF NEBRASKA CHRISTMAS BIRD COUNTS
Ponca State Park, NE, Christmas Bird Count,
12/14/2022
Contact: Bill Huser, BillFHuser@gmail.com, bhuser@suebeehoney.com or 712-574-3107
Norfolk, NE, Christmas Bird Count,
12/17/2022
Contact: Duane Wolff, duane.wolff@audubonmember.org, (402)-841-0130, David Heidt, heidtdw@gmail.com,
North Platte, NE, Christmas Bird Count,
12/18/22, This is the bad weather alternate
Contact: Thomas Walker, thomas.walker@nebraska.gov, 308,-530-7659
Lake McConaughy, NE, Christmas Bird Count,
12/30/2022
Contact: Stephen Dinsmore, cootjr@iastate.edu, 515-294-1348
Scottsbluff, NE, Christmas Bird Count,
12/30/2022 This is the bad weather alternate
Contact: Kathy DeLara, renosmom@charter.net,
Crawford NE, Christmas Bird Count,
1/2/2022 This is the bad weather alternate
Contact: Bruce Walgren, piranga@bresnan.net, 307-234-7455,
Harrison NE, Christmas Bird Count,
1/3/2022 This is the bad weather alternate
Contact: Bruce Walgren, piranga@bresnan.net, 307-234-7455
Fort Niobrara, NE, Christmas Bird Count,
1/3/2022 (not open to public this year)
Contact: Kristine Askerooth, kristine_askerooth@fws.gov
SOME OF NORTH DAKOTA CHRISTMAS BIRD COUNTS
Bismarck-Mandan, ND, Christmas Bird Count,
12/18/2022
Contact: Corey Ellingson, crackerjackbirder@bis.midco, 701-400-5891
Long Lake N.W.R. ND, Christmas Bird Count,,
12/19/2022, This is the bad weather alternate
Contact: Mike Rabenberg, mjldrab@gmail.com
Medora, ND, Theodore Roosevelt N.P. South Unit, Christmas Bird Count,
12/31/2022
Kevin Melzo, kevin_melzo@nps.gov, 701-623-4730 ext 1403
North Unit, Theodore Roosevelt N.P.,ND, Christmas Bird Count
Tentatively 1/1/2023
Contact: Kevin Melzo, kevin_melzo@nps.gov, 701-623-4730 ext 1403
Tewaukon N.W.R., ND, Christmas Bird Count,
TBD
Contact: Patrick Fitzmorris, patrick_fitzmorris@fws.gov, 701-724-3598 ext 2, 701-212-0175 cell
SOME OF WYOMING CHRISTMAS BIRD COUNTS
Sheridan, WY, Christmas Bird Count,
12/17/2022
Contact: Annie Dunn, anniegitterdunn@gmail.com, (253) 307-9082.
Casper, WY, Christmas Bird Count,
12/17/2022 *
Contact: Bruce Walgren, piranga@bresnan.net, 307-234-7455,
or Stacey Scott at hustace@gmail.com or (307) 262-0055
Kane, WY, Christmas Bird Count,
12/17/2022*
Contact: Christy Fleming: christy_fleming@nps.gov, 307-548-5406
Buffalo, WY, Christmas Bird Count,
12/18/2022
Contact: Deane Bjerke, bjerkedp@gmail.com,
Goshen Hole, WY, Christmas Bird Count
12/19/2022
Zachariah Hutchinson, zhutchinson@audubon.org
Story-Bighorn, WY, Christmas Bird Count,
12/29/2022
Contact: Ariel Downing: at 307-751- 2303, bandgeek832@gmail.com, Christy_Fleming@nps.gov
Sundance, WY, Christmas Bird Count,
12/30/2022,
Contact: Jen at 307-283-2467, ravenssong18@gmail.com,
Guernsey/Ft. Laramie, WY, Christmas Bird Count,
1/1/2023
Contact: Jane Dorn, 307-640-4002, linglebird@yahoo.com,
Bates Hole, WY, Christmas Bird Count,
1/1/2023
Contact: Hustace “Stacey” Scott, hustace@gmail.com, call Stacey at 307-262-0055
or Charlie at 307-473-2512
Gillette, WY, Christmas Bird Count,
TBD
Contact: Dustin Downey, 307.756.3941, 504.453.4139, ddowney@audubon.org,
SOME OF IOWA CHRISTMAS BIRD COUNTS
Westfield, IA, Christmas Bird Count,
12/15/2022 *
Contact: Bill Zales, doczales44@hotmail.com
Sioux City, IA, Christmas Bird Count,
12/17/2022
Contact: Jerry Probst, probstsuebee@aol.com, 712-490-8256,
SOME OF MINNESOTA CHRISTMAS BIRD COUNTS
Ortonville, MN, Christmas Bird Count
12/17/2022*
Contact: Brandon Semel: brandon_semel@fws.gov
Hendricks, MN, Christmas Bird Count,
12/19/2022
Contact: William A. Schultze, bcbrats@itctel.com,
605-479-3015
Pipestone N.M., MN, Christmas Bird Count,
1/2/2022
Contact: Garrett Wee, garrettwee@hotmail.com, (507) 829-8187
SOME OF MONTANA CHRISTMAS BIRD COUNTS
Miles City, MT, Christmas Bird Count,
12/17/2022*
Contact: Jennifer Muscha, jenmuscha@midrivers.com, 406-951-2799
An asterisk * means that an early count date was confirmed as not-postponed after blizzard ended
Link to last year’s regional CBC announcement on Scribd
======================================================================================================================
Game Fish and Parks Bio Blitz 2021
This event (GFP BB) was supposed to re-occur annually
Here is information on the last one in 2021 May 22nd- June 6th, 2021
Help South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks (SDGFP) observe and identify species state-wide during SDGFP’s virtual BioBlitz from May 22nd-June 6th! A BioBlitz is an event that focuses on finding and identifying as many species as possible in a specific area over a short period of time. Please join the project and contribute to the knowledge of biodiversity across the state by posting observations on iNaturalist . Download the iNaturalist app or visit the iNaturalist website (inaruralist.org). Create or sign into your account and join the project SD GFP BioBlitz 2021.
https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/sdgfp-bioblitz-2021
https://www.inaturalist.org/signup?return_to=https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/sdgfp-bioblitz-2021 – Participation is free to everyone and prizes will be awarded to top observers!
This project is found discussed under GFP education tab — learn more at GFP web site:
