Citizen Science: My 365 Days

American Goldfinch

I’m not a scientist. My dad was the scientist, a nuclear chemist no less. But not me. I’m the baker, the linguist, the gardener. I’m the one who gravitates towards the more liberal of arts. Those things typically left-brain. Or maybe it’s typically right brain. I don’t know. I’m not a scientist. 

Northern Cardinal

But for this past year I have participated in citizen science, collecting data in the natural world to be analyzed by the pros, the real scientists. Every day for a year, I observed birds: what kinds, how many, where and when I saw them. And every day I filled out a checklist and uploaded it—photos included—to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology via their app, eBird. 

Eastern Bluebird

My science venture was unplanned, and I only began watching birds beyond my backyard after a surprising little visitor spent the winter in our garden. Even then, the hobby took a slow start, doing a checklist maybe once a week, when I felt like getting out. Then it picked up steam and became every few days. By the end of last May the birding bug had bitten me deep and I was doing a checklist every day. Sometimes two. Occasionally three.

Tundra Swans

The days gathered into weeks. The weeks linked elbows and expanded to months, and as autumn rolled in, I’d gone half a year submitting at least one checklist every day. Rain or shine. Heat wave or cold snap. Unplanned.

Carolina Chickadee

My big idea was not to see a wide spectrum of species, but just observe local birds within 15 miles or so. There were those who stayed year-round, becoming the regulars I came to depend on, the little chickadees and hardy woodpeckers. Others, like warblers and grosbeaks, flashed through briefly during their gene-coded migrations. 

Rose-Breasted Grosbeak

But the variety in such a small radius stunned me. It was like peering into the woods and seeing a forgotten civilization living completely unfazed by our culture's growing intrusion. For, indeed, that's what I witnessed: bird culture, carrying on as it had for thousands of years, adapting as needed.

Brown Pelican

Despite not setting out to tally large numbers, I did travel around some, in the name of science (wink). Discovering parts of Virginia I’d never seen was an added bonus: the Eastern Shore and Northern Neck habitats yielded a breath-taking selection of shore birds and waterfowl I would not have seen otherwise.

Eastern Meadowlark

Closer to home I found myself gravitating to a handful of locations birding enthusiasts had already deemed hotspots. I fell in love with a small wetlands area near home and birded there over 125 times throughout the year. While every visit held treasure, one day in late March it yielded an unusual sparrow-like bird.  It was a rarity for that time of year and not previously reported for this part of Virginia: the dicksissel. Who knew? 

Dicksissel

In a year of unforeseen upheaval across the globe, when established routines were kicked down the hillside, daily birding re-created purpose and discipline for me in this, our natural world. There was the added benefit of—at my advancing age—to learn something new, to routinely test my memory, my vision, my hearing. And there were the healing benefits of bird watching, which those who know call Ornitherapy. Perfectly apt.

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher

My year of Citizen Science is now complete and I am happy to have contributed what little I could to the world of ornithology. I still go birding every day but have not decided to maintain this break-neck pace for a second year running. I might. I don’t know. I’m still not a scientist.

Trusty Binoculars and Example of Checklist

My Birding, by the numbers: May 2020 - May 2021

                                           688    Birding Checklists

                                  365    Days in a Row of Birding

                                  231    Locations (Hotspots)

                                  173    Different Species of Birds observed

                                      5    States visited (VA, OH, PA, MD, and MI)

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Cornell’s eBird is among the world’s largest biodiversity-related science projects, with more than 100 million bird sightings contributed annually by eBirders around the world. The data collected documents bird distribution, abundance, habitat use, and trends collected within a simple, scientific framework. Most recently, the data was used to determine a strong estimate of just how many birds are in the world, an astonishing 50 billion.

A Few Random Recommendations: 

• The Genius of Birds, by Jennifer Ackerman
• Visit your State/National Parks and Forests
• Invest in a decent set of binoculars; they are a gamechanger
• The Cornell Ornithology Lab and online app, eBird.org