Date: Thu, 31 Aug 2000 16:42:03 -0400 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: "MCKOWN, Matthew" Subject: Help us track fall migration through BirdCast MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" August 31, 2000 Hello Birdchatters, As of Friday September 1, 2000 BirdCast http://www.birdcast.org will again be up and running. We hope that many of you will be interested in this high tech project and the information about bird-friendly yards that's available at the site. Please visit and explore last spring's results, "10 Commandments to a Healthy Yard," and our Guide to Home Pesticides. We are especially eager to invite those of you who live between southern Virginia and northern New York to participate in the project by reporting this fall's migrants on-line. BirdCast is an ornithology project that weaves science and education for the sake of migratory birds and the environment in general. The project team this fall will consist of 4 partners - National Audubon Society, Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Clemson's Radar Ornithology Lab and all birdwatchers in the region. The entire project is made possible by the support of the EPA's Office of Research and Development and Office of Pesticide Programs. Piloted in the spring in the mid-Atlantic region, it has now been expanded throughout New Jersey and New York. BirdCast will provide daily unfiltered NEXRAD Next Generation Radar) snapshots of migrating birds across the area. These images will be accompanied by interpretation and migration predictions by Dr. Sidney Gauthreaux and his Clemson radar ornithology team. Here's where you can make a difference. BirdCast needs your help in "ground-truthing" these radar images. We would like to know what you are seeing as you watch birds in your favorite birding spot throughout the fall. All you have to do is submit some important site and time information to the website and then tell us how many birds of which species you have observed. It's that simple. Your observations will feed directly into BirdSource, an interactive database developed and maintained by National Audubon Society and the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Your data and similar sightings will be available at the site in real-time. Results will include species and numbers that have been observed throughout the area. See what's headed your way from the north. In addition, you will be able to see the results of night-time bioacoustical monitoring that will be going on across the region. Find out what flew over while you slept. If you bird the same area from Virginia thru New York on a frequent, regular basis and would like to get involved in this research and education project on a regular basis, please contact Sally Conyne at (215)297-9040 or sconyne@audubon.org Otherwise, report what you see whenever convenient. For more information, check out BirdCast at the BirdSource website http://www.birdsource.org Thanks in advance for your help with this important project. Please share this information with friends! Sally Conyne Director, Citizen Science National Audubon Society ======================================================================= To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey ======================================================================= =========================================================================