Counting Birds


Hello friends,


Today, I had planned on doing bird surveys. The weather⛈ and final exams got in my way of that unfortunately, but school does come over volunteering. Luckily, I still get to continue doing these at my internship.  I have been doing these surveys for about a year now and have learned SO MUCH. I started early last Summer volunteering to get my foot in the door and it worked. I only needed to do surveys every other week but I figured since I am home for school right now I'd go out every week, plus I really like to learn and identifying birds is like a game to me. I met some very nice birders out there that taught me things like long-billed dowitchers (LBDO) feed like a sewing machine and they always give me a heads up if they saw anything cool. 

Counting birds at a survey location on a previous survey trip


I do a habitat assessment🌿 as well to keep track of water levels and what percentage of habitat is in the area- like emergent or forest or water🌊. 

Right now is a transition period for birds, as the waterfowl is heading North and the shorebirds are moving in. In fact, last night was a big huge migration of a predicted 292 million birds and Illinois was right in the hot spot. Shorebirds are a fun group to identify since it can be pretty challenging. They are not colorful and all look very similar. Their only colors is white, brown, and black with an occasional red or golden color. Their legs can be black, yellow, or even pink in the case of the black-necked stilt (BNST).

Black-necked stilt image from Wikipedia

I looked up verses about birds today and folks there is a lot of good ones like this, "Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds!" Luke 12:24. This reminds me of the time I asked if they planted the food plants for all the water birds that come out there and they said "No, it just happens. Probably because the river carries seeds down to here." So, I want to leave you with this- You are God's favorite creation and he does care and provide for you even when you don't realize it is him. 

Here is a ton of American Coots (AMCO) taken a few weeks ago




💜Nichole





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