Ornithology -- February 14, 2024

Ornithology - Unit 12 in your textbook. Complete the optional quiz HERE

Sam Crowe, a lifelong birder, author of Photographic Guide to the Birds of North America (2020), and a member of the BPTMN Class of 2022

Read Sam's BIO

1. TUTORIAL: Watch this video (4:20) on logging class attendance and read pp. 16-17 in your MIT Handbook.

*Make sure that you have recorded last week's attendance in VMS. 

 (If you missed class, contact your pod guides to schedule a make-up.)    

Opportunity: Init Training-Class 01     

Date: February 7, 2024       

Hours: 3.0     

Description: Ecological Concepts, presented by Sam Kieschnick

*IF YOU ATTENDED THE MEET AND GREET, make sure that you have recorded attendance in VMS.

 (If you missed this, it does not need to be made up.) 

Opportunity: Init Training-Orientation   

Date: February 4, 2024       

Hours: 2.0     

Description: Class Orientation

NOTE: THESE MUST BE LOGGED BEFORE YOU COME TO CLASS on Feb. 14

2. Look over Unit 12 in your textbook. Complete the optional quiz HERE

3. Watch our speaker's pre-recorded presentations and answer questions

Is it a Bird? (17:15)

The Big Sit (8:43)

4. Watch video lessons on the basics of ornithology.

Inside Birding: Size and Shape (9:45)

Bird Migration in the Western Hemisphere (8:31)

5. Read this short article on Winter Tree ID and complete the Twig worksheet.  Check your work with this answer sheet. Clip a sample twig from a tree without leaves and try to identify the parts described on the tree worksheet. Bring your twig to class with you for a Winter Tree ID lesson.

Optional Activities

Watch Sam's bonus video Twenty Common Birds (7:37) in our area, with pictures and the sounds for each bird

Download Backyard Birds, with bonus info on creating bird habitat, using bird feeders, choosing bird seed, as well as a PDF copy of the presentation on Twenty Common Birds.

Visit the Migratory Bird Treaty Act site and see if your favorite bird is protected.

Complete the activity on Using eBird Species maps HINT: Find abundance animation on the White-Throated Sparrow here.

Respect points awarded for playing the Bird Song Hero game 

Listen to a podcast about birds https://www.audubon.org/news/ten-best-podcasts-about-birds

If you missed the Great Backyard Bird Count Webinar on the 13th, you can watch the recorded version here (but not for AT)

Optional videos:

Light Pollution Affects Migrating Birds(2:59)

Climate Change Affecting Chickadee Distribution (2:04)

• A clipped twig and your completed twig worksheet (from #4 above)

• Your lighted loupe from your Meet & Greet swag bag

Make-up Classes

Do you already know that you will have to have to miss a class because of a conflict? Contact your pod guides to make arrangements for a make-up class as soon as possible. Right now, we have plenty of opportunities for make-up classes, but we'll have fewer choices every week.  

Logging Hours

If you attended the Chapter Meeting Tuesday evening (either in person or online), 

here's how to enter it in VMS:

Opportunity: AT: BPTMN Chapter Monthly Meeting   

Date: February 13, 2024      

Hours: 1.0     

Description: Native Tribes of North Texas, presented by Chris Ulch

If you attended the TMN Tuesday at noon (online) or if you watch the recording,

here's how to enter it in VMS:

Opportunity: AT: TMN Tuesday  

Date: February 13, 2024       

Hours: 1.0

Description: Rattlesnakes with Chip Ruthven

If you attended the webinar: "All About the Great Backyard Bird Count"

here's how to enter it in VMS:

Opportunity: AT: Other Pre-approved Training  

Date: February 13, 2024       

Hours: 1.0

Description: webinar: All About the Great Backyard Bird Count

Advanced Training (AT) Opportunities

• • Free Webinar: All about the GREAT BACKYARD BIRD COUNT, Tuesday, February 13, 12:00 PM (1:00 Eastern, but 12:00 our time!) Pre-register HERE. (earn 1 hour AT)

  • TMN Tuesday: Rattlesnakes webinar  Tuesday, February 13, 12:00 PM (earn 1 hour AT) There are three additional recorded TMN Tuesday recorded webinars available, also eligible for AT.

  • Tuesday, February 13: 7:00 PM Monthly Chapter Meeting - 1 hour AT, Native Tribes of North Texas with Chris Ulch. Hybrid meeting details can be seen on the Chapter Calendar.

  • Heard Museum Second Saturday Bird Walks  in the Heard Wildlife Sanctuary are offered by volunteers from the Prairie & Timbers Audubon Society (PTAS) September through June. These bird walks are intended to help beginning and intermediate birders with bird spotting and identification techniques. Hours are 8:00 - 9:30. The next one is Feb. 10. See event details and how to log hours by clicking event link on the Chapter Calendar.

  • LLELA 2nd Saturday Bird Walks are offered by volunteers and are intended for birders of all levels. February 10th, 7:30-11:30am. Registration is required. See event details and how to log hours by clicking event link on the Chapter Calendar.

  • Friends of Hagerman Bird Walk with Jack Chiles. February 10th, 8:00-10:00am. Registration is required. See event details and how to log hours by clicking event link on the Chapter Calendar.

  • Webinar - Learning Science in Nature: Fostering Children's Learning, Well-being, and Care for the Earth. February 10th. 10:00-11:30am. Registration is required. See event details and how to log hours by clicking event link on the Chapter Calendar.

Volunteer Service Opportunities

• • Project Feederwatch This is already an approved Volunteer Service opportunity.

  • The 27th annual Great Backyard Bird Count will be held Friday, February 16, through Monday, February 19, 2024. Please visit the official website at birdcount.org for more information and be sure to check out the latest educational and promotional resources. You can earn Volunteer Hours for time spent observing birds and entering data. Log hours in VMS under "Cornell: Great Backyard Bird Count: TMN Field Research".

  • Are you a birder? Consider giving a talk about some aspect of birds to a local organization.

  • There are THIRTEEN pre-approved VH restoration workday opportunities listed on the Chapter Calendar for the week of February 8 - 13

• ·All About Birds - website

• Merlin Bird ID from the  Cornell Lab of Ornithology

• Beaks: Bird Feeding Adaptations - video from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology

• Prairies and Timbers  Audubon Society - serving Collin and surrounding counties

• Texas Ornithological Society (TOS)- website

• The TOS Handbook of Texas Birds 

• The Feather Atlas  - From the US Fish & Wildlife Service Forensics Lab.

• Audubon Texas - website of the Texas branch of Audubon

• Basics of Birding - video from Texas Parks & Wildlife Dept.

• My Life As A Turkey - PBS production about Wild Turkeys

• Six Steps to Choosing Binoculars You'll Love - article at All About Birds

•  Recent:  Master Naturalists Present Fun Facts about Hummingbirds

WEEK TWO CLASS UPDATE

Happy Thursday, Class of 2024!

 What a great first class! Now we're kicking off our Ornithology Week, and I know a lot of you have a particular interest in BIRDING! Whether you have lots of experience with birding or none at all, there will be a great opportunity coming up in Week #3 to earn some Volunteer Hours with the Great Backyard Bird Count. (February 16 - 19) More about that next week, but this week there is an AT opportunity to get you ready to participate. It's a free webinar held next Tuesday, Feb. 13. Pre-register HERE. (earn 1 hour AT, but only if you participate live.)

Two other AT opportunities you should be aware of: 

• ALSO on Tuesday Feb. 13 (it's a very busy day!) It's our monthly chapter meeting is at 7:00 PM. These are held in the SRC at the Heard, just like our classes. Earn 1 hour of AT whether you attend in person or watch LIVE online. (but not if you watch the recording.)

• TMN Tuesday: also on Feb. 13 at 12:00 A webinar on Rattlesnakes. TMN Tuesdays are presented by the state Texas Master Naturalist office every month, on the second Tuesday. These events are eligible for one hour of AT if you watch it live OR if you watch the recording. TMN Tuesday webinars are typically the only events for which you can earn AT for watching a recording. Any you watch from the current calendar year may be logged as AT.  

Other Important things to remember for this week:

• Please be sure to log each class and field trip you attend as soon as possible.  It causes numerous complications if we are unsure whether a class was missed or just not logged. By the time we get 10 classes into the year, we have 450 classes to track, so please help us out by logging your classes and field trips promptly! 

• If you are having trouble logging your classes or anything else into VMS, start by contacting your guide for help. If you are trying to log a volunteer opportunity that is not available on your list, contact our VH/AT Director, Heather Fell, at heatherf@bptmn.org She may need to add it to your personal available opportunities. If you can’t remember your username, let me know. I can easily look it up for you, and then you can just reset your password.  

• If you have not yet signed up to bring snacks for two classes, please do that HERE.

Have a great week,

Lisa

Lisa Travis, Training Director

Texas Master Naturalist, Blackland Prairie Chapter
education@bptmn.org
(817)832-3912

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has.”

  -- Margaret Mead