YOU CAN HELP! Go birding, and ‘contribute to vital seabird science’

August 3, 2018 9:58 am
|    Comments Off on YOU CAN HELP! Go birding, and ‘contribute to vital seabird science’
 |   How to help | West Seattle news | Wildlife

(Image provided by Seattle Audubon: White-Winged Scoter photographed by Doug Schurman)

We know the WSB readership includes many bird lovers. Seattle Audubon hopes some might be able to help with this:

Are seabirds in Puget Sound and the Strait of Juan de Fuca increasing or decreasing in numbers? Which species are changing their range? Help us find out.

The Puget Sound Seabird Survey (PSSS) is a community and citizen-science project managed by Seattle Audubon that empowers volunteer birdwatchers to gather valuable data on wintering seabird populations across the southern Salish Sea.

This season we will be expanding the project, yet again, this time north to the Canadian border and the San Juan Islands. We received funding from the Environmental Protection Agency’s National Estuary Program through the Washington Dept. of Fish & Wildlife to add 15-30 new survey sites, develop an oil spill plan and train volunteers on how to react to a spill.

You can contribute to vital seabird science by joining the twelfth season of this exciting project. We are now recruiting enthusiastic and dedicated volunteers to help us monitor the status of our local wintering seabirds. Training on survey methodology will be provided on Tuesday, 17th September at Lincoln Park, with other trainings taking place at 8 additional locations later in September and early October.

The first seabird survey of the season will take place on October 6th, 2018. Volunteers should ideally be able to identify Puget Sound’s seabird species and be available on the first Saturday of each month, October through April, to conduct a 30-minute survey. But, if determining between Lesser and Greater Scaup is a challenge, we’ll team you up with more knowledgeable surveyors. To help us determine each volunteer’s seabird identification skill level, please take this short, fun seabird ID quiz.

There are five survey sites in the West Seattle area that we need volunteers for, 10 sites in the Seattle area that require more volunteers, and numerous other sites around Puget Sound with spaces.

Learn more at www.seabirdsurvey.org and email Toby Ross, Science Manager tobyr@seattleaudubon.org to take part.

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