Breeding bird survey (1 Viewer)

I did my BBS route 2 days ago. This involves starting at dawn (5am here), and driving a 35km. route through the back woods, stopping every 0.8km., and watching and listening for a timed 3 minutes for 50 stops, and noting numbers and ID of every bird seen/ heard on a scannable sheet. The idea is to repeat the route every year, and the Canadian Wildlife Service +US Fish and Wildlife use the data to plot breeding bird population trends on a long-term basis. This year numbers seemed much as usual, and for the interest of those that would like to know what breeds in the woods round here (inland mixed woods, southern Nova Scotia, eastern Canada), this is what I got --

Ring-necked Pheasant 2
Chimney Swift 2
Ruby-throated Hummingbird 2
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 4
Downy Woodpecker 1
Yellow-shafted Flicker 5
Eastern Wood-Pewee 3
Yellow-bellied Flycatcher 1
Alder Flycatcher 5
Least Flycatcher 10
Blue-headed Vireo 3
Red-eyed Vireo 13
Blue Jay 2
American Crow 6
Tree Swallow 4
Black-capped Chickadee 6
Boreal Chickadee 1
Ruby-crowned Kinglet 5
Veery 1
Swainson's Thrush 3
Hermit Thrush 16
American Robin 44
European Starling 1
Tennessee Warbler 3
Nashville Warbler 2
Northern Parula 6
Yellow Warbler 6
Magnolia Warbler 11
Myrtle Warbler 1
Black-throated Green Warbler 11
Palm Warbler 2
Bay-breasted Warbler 1
Black-and-white Warbler 5
American Redstart 7
Ovenbird 23
Common Yellowthroat 8
Chipping Sparrow 6
Savannah Sparrow 3
Song Sparrow 7
White-throated Sparrow 19
Slate-colored Junco 5
Common Grackle 2
Purple Finch 1
Red Crossbill 20
Pine Siskin 3
American Goldfinch 5

Total Species: 46 Total Ind: 297


Vehicles 8

You don't count birds between stops, or after the 3 minutes is up. The stops have to be the same each year. It's a lovely and useful way of spending an early Summer morning. I have posteds a pic of part of the route - typical of the habitat, in the gallery.

Richard

Very interesting Richard. You went in a single party of 8 cars? Or there were 8 parties of Nova Scotians doing their own 35-km loops? I did the CBC for several winters in Canada, but never a breeding bird survey, never could commit to a route, I move around so much!

Some people drive their routes, others walk.

One local birder did his yesterday, walking through Fox Island Park. Garnered 70-80 species, with a noticeable decline in Ovenbirds.

Charles Harper said:

Very interesting Richard. You went in a single party of 8 cars? Or there were 8 parties of Nova Scotians doing their own 35-km loops? I did the CBC for several winters in Canada, but never a breeding bird survey, never could commit to a route, I move around so much!

Click to expand...

Sorry - There was just me and 1 car. The 8 refers to 8 other vehicles that passed me on the route.

Richard