Please excuse double-posting of this announcement. People with
different/older versions of email programs had some gobbly-gook from the
first announcement, and this version should work better for them....

CALLING ALL BIRDERS!

The Vermont Institute of Natural Science and Vermont Audubon are offering
two great opportunities to citizen scientists. Here's a fun way to affect
bird conservation in Vermont while pursuing your favorite hobby!

***Announcing the Vermont Breeding Bird Atlas and the Vermont Important
Bird Area (IBA) Monitoring Project**
(see descriptions of each project below)

We encourage you to join one or both of these important projects and help
bird conservation throughout the state!

Vermont's Important Bird Area (IBA)
Monitoring Project

The Vermont Important Bird Area (IBA) Monitoring Project is looking for
citizen scientists to help monitor some of Vermont's most critical bird
habitat. The VT IBA Program, part of a global network if IBA Programs
developed by Birdlife International, has designated more than 100 IBAs
statewide. These include Dead Creek Wildlife Management Area (WMA),
Herricks Cove, Victory Bog WMA, Missisquoi National Wildlife Refuge, and
West Rutland Marsh as well as many others. The VT IBA Program, coordinated
by Audubon Vermont, will be using the new Ebird online data entry system.
Developed by the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology, Ebird provides a simple
and easy way to record your sightings year round. Information gathered by
groups and individuals will be used to help guide bird conservation efforts
at the IBAs and will be eventually incorporated into Birdlife
International's World Bird Database. For more information about the VT IBA
Monitoring Project contact Mark LaBarr Vermont IBA Coordinator at
[log in to unmask] or 802-434-3068


The Vermont Breeding Bird Atlas

Here's your chance to contribute to the most comprehensive survey of
Vermont's birds and be a part of Vermont's birding history! Don't pass up
this opportunity that comes along only once every 25 years!

Twenty-five years ago, the Vermont Institute of Natural Science (VINS)
embarked on a very ambitious quest: to document and map the nesting status
of all Vermont bird species. The Vermont Breeding Bird Atlas, published in
1985, was the first such study in North America. More than 200 volunteers
participated in the research, mapping the nesting status of 193 species.
The Vermont Atlas brought together the knowledge and skills of birders
throughout the state and paved the way for similar atlases in 30 other
states. State agencies and conservation organizations have since used the
Atlas to help formulate management plans and prioritize areas for
conservation efforts.

Now, after 25 years of changes in land use, climate, and a myriad of other
factors that affect where birds breed, it's time for another Atlas. We are
counting on you, the heart of Vermont's birding community, to help us
create the next Atlas. This is a way to transform your favorite hobby into
an activity that will greatly benefit the very species you love to watch!

The second Atlas will give us an updated picture of bird distribution and
abundance, informing us how species have changed over the last 25 years
given all of the changes on the landscape. Managed by VINS, the Atlas is a
collaborative effort with Audubon Vermont, local Audubon chapters, the
National Wildlife Federation, and the School of Natural Resources at the
University of Vermont. The Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department has
provided seed money, and Roz Renfrew, VINS' loon biologist in 1990-1993,
was recently hired to coordinate the 5-year Atlas.

Birders like you will be the cornerstone to successful completion of this
Atlas. County coordinators have been enlisted to oversee the blocks in
their region and assist participants. VINS will hold workshops in March and
April to prime Atlasers for the first season of surveys in 2003. We will
begin surveying blocks of land in the spring of 2003, focusing on "Priority
Blocks"  -- these are 5 km X 5 km tracts of land that were surveyed in the
last Atlas to be covered again in this round. We hope to go above and
beyond the accomplishments of the first Atlas, but how much we can achieve
will depend on the availability and commitment of folks like you.

If you are interested in participating, please contact Rosalind Renfrew at
[log in to unmask] <mailto:[log in to unmask]>or 802-457-2779 ext. 127.


Rosalind Renfrew
Vermont Institute of Natural Science
27023 Church Hill Road
Woodstock, VT 05091
802-457-2779 ext. 127