Big Day

I spent as much time as possible before eBird's Big Day to practice in the places I monitor. Of course there were birds seen each day that did not show on May 4. There were also a few "other" species that distracted me, particularly turtles moving because of the rains and coming to full stops on the roadways. I couldn't let those be "dead" stops on my watch. So I may have "watched" a few gain safety at the side of the road.

So Big Day was big and showed me that I do not "remember" the numbers of birds accurately. Not trusting myself I just allowed my voice recorder to run when monitoring a specific place. I counted and reported to aloud as the recorder ran. And did I ever ramble. It was incredibly irritating to listen to these recordings. Who did I think I was talking to? describing extraneous stuff for? I hope it will provide guidance for future hikes and classes. Yikes!

A few other things showed up for other projects. So it was a busy few days in spite of the terrible weather.

I'll be on a third formal Amphibian Watch tonight with the experts. The visions of calling Gulf Coast Toads in a swale in Berry Springs Park was something I'd like to see again. I also was fortunate to visit ponds on a prairie restoration site and along my "regular route" to see what was out there. The recent rains have left water in places where I have never seen it and so it has been important to me to listen.

Okay. Time to get going.

Posted on 05 May, 2019 23:37 by