WELD – Hardy hikers with an interest in birding are encouraged to attend a free workshop from 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday in Weld.

The Appalachian Trail Conference in cooperation with the Maine Appalachian Trail Club and Vermont Institute of Natural Science will teach interested volunteers how to monitor high-elevation songbirds. The event will begin with birdwatching on Mount Blue and conclude with a slide presentation at Weld Town Hall.

This is the first time that a workshop of this nature is being held in Maine, according to Val Stori of the ATC. Though no other training opportunities are planned for this year, The ATC hopes to be able to bring more to the state next year.

Mountain birdwatches are designed to assess the status of songbirds that inhabit mountain-top forests. They are used “to map critical habitat, identify priorities for land protection and evaluate potential effects of habitat alteration,” according to a press release from Vermont Institute of Natural Science.

Of particular concern at this time is Bicknell’s thrush, which breeds exclusively in the high-elevation forests of New York and Northern New England as well as coastal Canada. Because of its limited breeding range and relatively small population, this songster is listed as a top conservation priority. Other birds of interest include Swainson’s thrush, blackpoll warbler, winter wren and white-throated sparrow.

Volunteers will learn Saturday how to perform a “point survey,” which is the protocol for the birdwatch program.

A point survey consists of following a set route in the woods, stopping for 10 minutes at pre-set points and recording all visible or audible birds and their activities. Birders should be able to identify birds by their song as well as by visible markings. Most surveys will take between two to four hours and begin at 4:30 a.m.

Mountain Birdwatch volunteers will receive training materials and survey instructions at the workshop. They are expected to climb a mountain once or twice during June and count birds at dawn along a 1-kilometer section of trail. Previous experience is not required but strong hiking ability is. Map and compass skills are also useful.

VINS has identified 10 areas in Maine along the Appalachian Trail that are in need of monitoring. Mountains in need of birder volunteers are Mount Carlo, Crocker, Cranberry, Lone, Redington, Spaulding, Sugarloaf, White Cap and the two Wyman Mountains (north and south).

The Mountain Birdwatch program has been in existence since 2000 and, since that time, has provided information to many conservation organizations and wildlife agencies.

For more information or to enroll in the program, the VINS Web site is www.vinsweb.org or call Val Stori at 603-795-4935.

jhausen@sunjournal.com

Copy the Story Link