Residents add bird count to intl. project
PENN TWP — A quiet walk through wetlands Saturday morning contributed to a 120-year-old community science endeavor.
Since 1900, groups associated with the National Audubon Society have taken to the woods during a set time period around the Christmas holiday season. With binoculars, clipboards and pens in hand, they look for birds of any species and tally up however many they can find. It's considered the world's longest running citizen science project.
On a small scale, bird counts like the four-person team that walked Succop Nature Park on Saturday morning in pursuit of feathered fliers may seem insignificant. But in the aggregate, their data combined with a worldwide mass of small bird count reports creates an annually updated set of data used to track everything from bird migration pattern shifts to environmental decay.
Chilly air and mushy mud didn't keep away Andy, Ethan and Addie Zadnik. The three showed up at Succop for the center's Kids Christmas Bird Count, a companion to an adult count held earlier in the morning.
Along with spotting birds, the group looked for bird habitats, food sources and signs of nearby wildlife.“Can you tell what made those holes?” Andy asked Addie, pointing to a tree.The 6-year-old looked for a moment, then turned back to him.“A woodpecker,” she exclaimed.Ryan Stauffer, a naturalist at the park, led the trio along Succop's trails. They walked slowly and quietly, listening for bird calls and watching through binoculars to try and identify specific species.Addie used a small bird call to attempt to draw out more birds to count, while Ethan shared ecology knowledge learned from his participation in Boy Scouts.Even their modest count contributed to the larger goal, Stauffer said.“We're just a tiny part of it, but the data we gather all over the world today matters,” Stauffer said.
