MBP to announce the Turkey Point Bird Count
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Bill Hubick
May 7, 2021, 9:28:43 AM5/7/21
to William Hubick, Jim Brighton, John Hall
Hi Everyone,
As friends and supporters of Maryland Biodiversity Project (MBP), we wanted to give you an early heads-up about an exciting announcement.
MBP will soon publicly announce the Turkey Point Bird Count, which we plan to run each fall at the Turkey Point Lighthouse (Elk Neck SP, Cecil Co.) at the top of the Chesapeake Bay. We will document bird migration daily from August 1st through November 15th. This will be Maryland's first dedicated morning flight count and will use the same timing and protocols as the morning flight count at Cape May, New Jersey. We are sure to collect a treasure trove of data that will enrich our understanding of East Coast bird migration and important population trends. All data will be shared via eBird.
Here is the project page:
The MBP team is very excited about this initiative. If you or your team can support, we would greatly appreciate donations and we welcome official sponsorship. See the "Donate" and "Become a Sponsor" links.
Bird migration is the world's most visible natural spectacle. It is readily experienced anywhere we live. It is a reliable measure of our planet's balance and sustainability. Trends can teach us about issues associated with our changing climate and biodiversity loss. One area we seeks to highlight and better document is the relationship between birds and the insect biodiversity and biomass on which they depend. The millions of birds that make these long and perilous journeys do so for the bountiful food sources on their nesting grounds. We know that aerial insectivores are declining and the public has now read about the "Insect Apocalypse". Now how can we better measure these phenomena and show the connection between bird migration and the insect biodiversity and biomass that make migration worthwhile? How do we best demonstrate threats and influence bird and biodiversity conservation policy? We need a lot more data, and this is a meaningful step in that direction.
Birds need biodiversity. Let's celebrate and document bird migration and ensure their dangerous journeys are as safe and worthwhile as possible. Stay tuned for the sister MBP project in our big 2021 plans, which focuses on documenting that migration fuel, the biodiversity birds depend on for nesting success and the costly migrations back to their wintering grounds.
We appreciate your support. We are very excited about moving into more targeted data collection in the years ahead.
If you are in a position to donate or become a sponsor, it will be greatly appreciated!
Hope all's well, everyone. Thanks for your support and for all you do for conservation.
Bill and the MBP team
Photo courtesy of Sean McCandless.
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