23 June 04

Countin’ Crows

One of the big advantages of working at the Wildlife Health Center is that I now get to hear about all the research that’s being done on local wildlife. I have just signed up to participate in the Bicycle Bird Biologist program being run out of Wildlife and Ecological Genetics by Holly Ernest; she is trying to build a comprehensive census of Davis birds, particularly corvids and raptors, and she’s trying to get as large a participation as possible by bike and pedestrian commuters. The purpose is to track the effects of West Nile Virus on local populations.

This comes at a good time for me, as I’m pondering the scope and format of a field notes journal. Keeping track of four or five species over the course of months will be a great way to start, I feel, and I’m encouraged that someone will actually use this information.

gobblers.gifThis morning on my way in I counted thirteen American crows and four yellow-billed magpies. I also, by way of a huge diversion, saw thirteen wild turkey chicks with four adult females, “swimming” through the long grass toward the creek (sketched from memory, above). Guess the turkeys we saw earlier in the spring have successfully colonized this area.

Posted by at 03:13 PM in Nature and Place | Link |
  1. I hope you will post your progress in “counting crows.” Since they have been making their presence felt in such a big way both in my backyard and in my consciousness lately, I certainly would like to learn more about them.

    — maria    24. June 2004, 08:51    Link
  2. I feel excited at the idea of keeping field notes. I’ve often thought it would be important to log the life of the valley around me as I hear it and see it. Especially if data is needed as part of an anti-development campaign or something. But I feel so humble and amateur so I’ll be interested to follow what format you and Numenius decide to take on.

    — Coup de Vent    28. June 2004, 12:43    Link
  3. Pica, go for it! It’s not just that there aren’t enough scientists to go around. The problem is also that scientists can’t necessarily do much with non-quantifiable data, barring a major paradigm shift. My mother has made many unique observations, especially of bird and mammal behavior, in her 30+ years of observing Nature on one square mile of mountaintop land. We know they’re unique, because she keeps up with the research and contacts the “experts” in each field. It’s astonishing how little is known about the life histories of even very common species. Given the persistent bias against field work in the natural sciences, this isn’t likely to get any better any time soon. And there are few field biologists bold enough to record and publish “anecdotal” data, as, say, Berndt Heinrich has done.

    Nice sketch of turkeys. We’ve got them out the wazoo here, too. I scared up a good two dozen chicks from my “lawn” the other night – it never fails to astonish me how well those little fluff balls can fly!

    — Dave    29. June 2004, 09:57    Link

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