“Backyard Birder” Project Update

New member!  Kristin Kovach

Information on where local bird species are located in Delaware County.  Uses Google Maps to map out each bird siting (with date and who observed it). E-bird link

Delaware County layers:  woodlands, wetlands, watershed, archeological, topographical (maybe include)

Make a map of trail to find local birds:  “Backyard Birds”

Location:  Include OWU campus and area within walking distance (Blue Limestone Park, Dempsey Middle School,  Woodward Elementary, Delaware Run)

Must include some human features (roads, major buildings, etc) so people can locate themselves on the map (but make these features less noticeable).

Include other animals (bats, squirrels, rabbits, etc)

Make “playing cards,” with each card corresponding to a point on the map that represents a site to find a certain bird/animal species.  On the card, include information (habitat, ecology, behavior, etc) of that bird/animal.

Split habitats into “human based” and “natural.”

Have 2 separate routes on the map:  morning and evening

To Do List:

1.  We still need to find out if the actual DATA is accessible in a format that includes location (latitude and longitude)

• We need to collect location data, probably with GPS.  Kristin and I are in ornithology, so we can maybe take GPS points of bird locations when we work on our independent projects.  Dr. Johnson has a GPS?  Who else?
  

2.  We need to figure out how to map the local habitats on a VERY LOCAL SCALE.  Is there already existing data?  Do we need to go out and map each habitat ourselves (would we take coordinates with GPS)?  What kind of habitats will we include?  How will we define them?

• Again, use the GPS units to map out specific areas (take points at each corner of a habitat lot, etc)