This should be of interest, and I don't think it has appeared on the 
MDOsprey yet. Apologies if it has and I overlooked it.

--
June Tveekrem
Columbia, MD
tweekiebird|AT|southernspreadwing.com
 
----- Original Message -----

Date:    Wed, 30 May 2007 08:09
From:    Antonio Celis
Subject: Looking for Eastern Maryland birders

Dear Eastern Maryland Birders,

We are looking for 12 volunteers with excellent hearing ability to listen to
audio recordings and identify bird vocalizations. The project is a
collaborative effort among Antonio Celis-Murillo (IAP – USGS Bird Banding
Laboratory), Jill Deppe (NASA Goddard Space Flight Center/Oak Ridge 
Associated
Universities), Ted Simons (USGS Cooperative Research Unit), Ken Pollock (NC
State University), Jim Nichols (USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center), and
Jim Hines (USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center). BBS has graciously 
offered
to distribute this announcement for us, but this is not a BBS project.

Responsibilities of volunteers: Each volunteer will listen to a maximum 
of 30
3-min recordings and identify all individuals and species heard. In 
essence, it
is like conducting a point-count survey where you only record the 
species you
hear. All bird species are found in Maryland. The results of individual
participants will not be revealed. Results will be analyzed as a group 
rather
than by individual volunteers.

Time commitment: half a day; it will take no more than 5 hours to introduce
volunteers to the playback room and listen to all the recordings (no longer
than it would take you to complete a BBS route).

Necessary skills: None other than those required to perform a BBS route 
(i.e.,
great hearing ability and knowledge of bird vocalizations). Data will be
recorded on the same type of datasheet used during BBS surveys.

Where: Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, Beltsville Campus, Laurel, MD
(approximately 5 min east of the Patuxent Wildlife Visitor’s Center)

When: Below is a list of potential dates for the study. We will only be 
able to
accommodate 3 persons per day because of limited playback equipment. Please
contact us to indicate your interest in participating in the study and a 
date
that works best for you. Once we have information on the availability of
volunteers, we will narrow this list of dates to four or five.

Saturday June 23, 2007
Saturday July 7
Sunday June 24
Sunday July 8
Saturday June 30
Saturday July 14
Sunday July 1
Sunday July 15

Start time: 9:00am

What to bring: Nothing, we will supply all the equipment.

We will provide: coffee and a light lunch

Contacts:
If you have any questions or are interested in participating in this study,
please contact Tony or Jill by phone or e-mail.

Tony Celis (301)-497-5832  
<mailto:[log in to unmask]>,  
<mailto:[log in to unmask]>
Jill Deppe (301)-614-5875