Project Feederwatch

For my Intro to Environmental Studies course, I am required to volunteer 5 hours in one of several environmentally-centered service projects. And one of them is Project Feederwatch! Although the program doesn't officially start until November, we are taking preliminary surveys of the site so we know what people should look for when the time comes.

So this morning I went out to one of the preserve areas to meet another student in charge of the Project Feederwatch volunteer program. After she gave me a rundown on how it all works, I spent the next two hours birding to my heart's content. (The picture to the left is the view I had from where I was sitting.)

Basically to participate, you choose two consecutive days to go out and survey the area from the same place, and count the number of birds of each species you see together at one time. Sounds tough, huh? ;-)

Well, needless to say, it was an incredible morning. It was fairly quiet, with the exception of passing cars, and wonderful to be sitting in solitude in a little oak grove watching birds. I didn't see many species, but I got to see one year bird -- a Yellow-throated Warbler. My list for the project:

• Blue Jay
• Osprey
• Palm Warbler
• Yellow-throated Warbler
• Great Egret
• Hairy Woodpecker

There were actually a lot more birds than this, but I was required to only record my sightings within a set boundary around the birdfeeders.

Thus, it was a lovely morning. I'm going back tomorrow afternoon for the second half of the project, and I'll probably go next week as well to earn the rest of my volunteer hours and see what else I can see!

As an aside, I also found out today that the college offers a Field Ornithology class every couple years so... YAY! I'll have to find out when they're offering it next. I can't wait!

Alright, I'm off to go study for my Spanish exam.

Happy birding!