Memorandum to Cooperators SUMMER 2000 CONTENTS -- |
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1999 COVERAGE This year's total represents a 2.1% decrease in coverage as compared to last year's coverage. Although if the expected 1999 late returns materialize, we will actually be looking at a 1% increase in coverage over 1998. As of now however, 2397 routes have been run in the U.S. Canada had a great year as well; a total of 426 routes were surveyed which is a 2.4% increase over last year's total. See the table on page two for individual state results. On a related topic, if you ran a BBS route in 1999 and mailed it to our office but did not receive a summary report or email message confirming receipt by our office, please let us know. It is possible that we never received your data. 1998-1999 Coverage Summary |
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3000 IN 2000 OR BUST!
On another front, we still need 89 routes to reach our goal of increasing the total number of U.S. routes by 300. Since 1997 we have added 211 routes. We encourage state coordinators, especially in the mid-west and west, to consider adding routes. State coordinators should contact the BBS office to request additional routes. One note to participants who may be surveying a new route this year. To delineate the route path on the map the appropriate roads are highlighted. The highlighted path is only a guide, however, and normally extends further then the prescribed 24.5 miles to compensate for potential road problems or topography. Use your car odometer to determine the actual end of the route which may fall short of the highlighted end. STATE COORDINATORS Current state coordinator contact information is available on the BBS web page via the "Contact Us" link. NEW VOLUNTEER SERVICE AGREEMENTS VOLUNTEER AWARDS |
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Congratulations to all recipients and thank you again for your extraordinary commitment to the BBS! REQUEST FOR SLIDES BBS WEB PAGE (www.pwrc.usgs.gov/bbs/) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Species Totals for Route 02001: |
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BBS list serve -- A list serve devoted to the Breeding Bird Survey is also now available. We hope you will use it to communicate with BBS participants around the country on matters related to the BBS. It should provide an ideal forum to share experiences, get answers to commonly asked questions, or to keep abreast of what's new with the BBS. To subscribe go to the "Contact Us" link on the BBS home page and then select the "BBStalk" link, or subscribe directly through email by 1999 BBS RELATED ARTICLES Reprints of this article are available through the BBS office. Use of BBS data soars -- Since its inception, the main emphasis of the BBS has been to provide information on the distribution and trends of all bird species that are regularly encountered on these surveys. And as many of you know, BBS data have become a very important source of non-game bird information over the last 33 years. However, these data have also been used for various other purposes. For example, BBS data have been instrumental in the development of methods to estimate |
population trends from survey data, while some of the potential biases associated with survey data have been explored through the use of the BBS data set. As this database has grown during the past three decades, the potential uses for it have also expanded. Questions concerning landscape ecology and community ecology at large geographic scales are being addressed with BBS data, and the potential for future research opportunities remains fertile. The graph above depicts the number of articles where authors have relied heavily, if not solely, on BBS data for their research. This information was garnered from the BBS bibliography which was derived primarily from professional journals and from regional and state periodicals devoted to birds, but does not include newsletters from local bird clubs. Literature sources where BBS data are minor components of the published information, such as many breeding bird atlases, have not been included. A few theses and dissertations have been included where BBS data or methodology have been the main emphasis of the research, but this source was undoubtedly not exhausted. Also a few government publications and similar "gray literature" sources are included, but such references are difficult to locate and some may have been missed. The BBS bibliography can be accessed via the "Data Page" link on the BBS Home Page. If upon reviewing the bibliography you find that we missed a publication of the types listed above, please let us know. We would like to make the bibliography as comprehensive as possible. STORIES FROM THE FIELD Several participants have suggested another good idea. They suggested that we provide BBS identification placards for use in the vehicle window while conducting BBS routes. Basically, the placard would identify the holder as a BBS participant and list the BBS office contact information in case law enforcement or suspicious landowners care to pursue it further. Enclosed in this year's packets are the placards. Their use is optional since we realize that in some parts of the country it may not be prudent to outwardly advertise that you are participating in a federally sponsored program. Adventures, amusing mishaps & encounters -- While conducting the Whiskey Spring, Oregon BBS route Howard and Elaine Sands reported that they began hearing a strange sound coming from the engine of their '92 Taurus. Upon lifting the hood Howard was greeted with a cloud of steam and a spray of boiling water. Panic began to creep in as they realized they had a dry radiator, no extra water, it was Sunday morning, and they were 15 miles from the nearest town on a seldom used Forest Service road. After calming down Howard observed they were at the crest of a hill and that most of the way to Prospect, the nearest town, was down hill. So they coasted for nine miles, only turning on the engine briefly to get over small hills or level areas to complete the route. Still six miles out of town and on level ground, Howard re-examines the now cool engine and finds a tear the radiator hose. Pulling an empty plastic sandwich bag from the lunch pail and a shoe string from his shoe, Howard patched the tear and then filled the radiator with water from a nearby river. Repairs made they took off for Prospect with their fingers crossed. Twenty minutes later they arrive in town with the engine hissing and the plastic bag a melting mass of bubbles, but they made it! Now Howard goes by the moniker of "Mcgyver" in his household. Jenny Lowe and Craig Logsdon set their alarms for 2:30 a.m., plenty early to get to the start point of the Ruby Road, Alaska BBS route on time. However upon awaking they found that they had neglected to factor bothersome bears into their schedule. When preparing to load the truck, Jenny and Craig found a bold black bear thumping around on the back porch of the cabin and attempting to get into the bed of the pick-up truck. Efforts to scare the bear away were met with a mock charge so they decided to let him have his way. Luckily while Jenny and Craig ate a quick breakfast the bear left allowing them to keep on schedule. But as they drove from stop to stop, muddy paw prints on the truck windows kept the memory of the early morning visitor fresh in their minds. Move over Roswell, New Mexico! Arizona has the real deal. Forget about habitat loss, habitat degradation, cowbird parasitism, and agricultural chemicals because the real cause of bird population declines is now apparent -- aliens are abducting our birds! Josh Burns reported seeing a UFO along the first six stops of the Oatman, Arizona BBS route. But according to BBS protocol we can only accept the observation at the first stop. Josh goes on to explain that it was actually a huge balloon fitted with navigational safety lights that was launched in New Mexico to study cosmic rays. It subsequently passed over much of Arizona due to high altitude winds and became the most popularly reported UFO in Arizona for a time. Visions of a foiled BBS attempt momentarily haunted Paula Hansley and Gary Emerson as they entered their car to run the South Fork, Colorado BBS route. As Gary started the car, the key broke off in his hand leaving the other end of the key in the ignition. Persistence paid off once again however, when they found that the car could still be started by pressing the broken part of the key into the ignition and in that manner they completed the route. Ronda and David Woodward were just in time to see several birds prepare their breakfasts along the Ragged Mountain, Colorado BBS route. They saw a Red-tailed Hawk with a rock squirrel, an American Kestrel with a wriggling snake, and a Golden Eagle with something small and dark in its talons -- and a pair of crows in hot pursuit. A bonus to conducting a BBS is that it often gets you out in the field at a time when animals besides birds are also active. Jocelyn Baker saw the following non-avian wildlife while conducting the Badlands, South Dakota BBS route: 3 mule deer, 6 bison, 3 pronghorn antelopes, and numerous prairie dogs. Georgia Frazier and Robert Greene were treated to the sights of 217 pronghorn antelope, 3 mule deer, and 1 coyote along the Ingomar, Montana BBS route. However some participants must content themselves with the beauty of the surrounding landscape. Chet McGaugh who runs the Cottonwood BBS route in southern California writes, "If the place wasn't so beautiful I would have quit years ago. A singing Hermit Warbler in Pinto Basin doesn't really make up for 18 stops with no birds. The desert is in drought, with almost nothing blooming. Even lizards are scarce." BETTER LATE THAN NEVER ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Besides the thousands of you in the field, I would also like to thank Susan Balenger and Kacie Miller for their outstanding help behind the scenes at the BBS office during the 1999 season. They assisted with numerous tasks that kept the data moving through the office in a timely manner.
Good luck & good birding in 2000!
Keith Pardieck |