Opportunities From: Calvert Stewards

There is often a need for new and replacement Prothonotary Warbler  boxes on our trails. We will provide the instructions and building materials, you provide the construction using your skills and tools, and done on your own schedule. 

Skills Needed: Basic Carpentry Skills

Tools required: table saw, drill, screw drivers

For more information please contact Gene Groshon at Gene.Groshon@calvertcountymd.gov

Scheduling & Reporting Hours: Volunteers are asked to spend time counting birds within assigned regions and report the data to the coordinator at the end of the day. Count areas are assigned by the coordinator. There is usually a post count gathering the evening of the count to tally the results.  

Examples of Bird Surveys include:

Breeding Bird Atlas: A five-year survey of the breeding birds of Maryland and Washington, DC.  Birders are assigned very specific areas to search for all nesting species. Nesting behavior such as bringing material or food to a possible nest, or observing fledglings ready to fly, must be observed and recorded.   Christmas Counts: Each winter, volunteers from all over the U.S. conduct bird counts for the National Audubon Society. Now more than 100 years running, the Count provides important data on the long term trends of bird populations in our area.  Calvert County participates in 2 of these Counts. The Jug Bay circle encompasses the northern third of the County and the Patuxent River Count extends into the southern third. Count dates usually occur the third Sunday of December and the Sunday following Christmas respectively.

Contact Gene Groshon at gene.groshon@calvertcountymd.gov for additional information or to participate. 

Spring Warbler Id Charts. From Cornell Lab

The Barn Owl nest boxes need routine maintenance outside of the nesting season. Activities can include trimming vegetation around the nesting area, repairing boxes, or moving or adding boxes.

If you performed maintenance as part of a routine nest box monitoring visit, please respond to the Barn Owl Nest Box Monitoring 

For Further Information Contact: Andy Brown, 3.andrew.brown@gmail.com or

Karen Anderson r_otters1@msn.com

SCHEDULE: at the monitor's discretion, and is an ongoing yearly project. Time per visit expected to be 3 hours. 

VOLUNTEER DUTIES
Volunteers will meet at designated locations and complete duties. Tasks include:

Weekly nest monitoring beginning in March through September. Duties Include: Completing provided training on nest box monitoring protocol Driving around the county to different box locations Identifying species nesting in box Counting eggs, hatchlings, fledglings and adults Recording data on a standard data collection form Submitting data to Program Manager at the end of the season Promoting the project and the importance of Eastern Bluebirds to others Building new nest boxes Cleaning and repairing older nest boxes Helping to install boxes at approved locations around the county

SKILLS & ABILITIES: Some walking involved.

TRAINING: New volunteers will meet with the Program Manager or attend a scheduled training.

REQUIREMENTS & EXPECTATIONS
Volunteers may need to:

Hike across wetlands, ponds, creeks and uneven and overgrown terrain to get to box locations Be exposed to ticks, chiggers, mosquitoes, bees/wasps, poison ivy, bad weather, and other wildlife

PROJECT DATES Specific dates for each season will be selected by the program leaders based on weather patterns and regional activities of wood ducks. Updates will be emailed to volunteers who have responded to this opportunity.

For Further Information Contact: Karyn Molines, 410-535-5327 Karyn.Molines@calvertcountymd.gov