Notes on doing Bird Counts at Lake Abert
1. DIRECTION
Drive from the South (Valley Falls) to the North, starting around 7am or so. The cool mornings allow great visibility across the lake. They key is to get to the north end before it is too hot (heat shimmers) or too late in the day (bird behavior changes). Try and finish by 10 or 10:30am, depending on weather.
2. WEATHER
If the weather is too adverse, try again on the next day or next nearest calm day. If you cannot return, note the adverse weather. The count will most likely be a shorebirds only.
3. HISTORICAL COMPARISON
Count up the east side (Hwy 395) only as this is comparable to historic data. If you want to drive and count the West side (a rough track road), note those birds separately. Also note birds separately if you count them on the River’s End Ranch reservoir.
4. VEHICLE vs. TRIPOD
You can count from your vehicle or on foot. Be safe, the traffic is minimal along the lake, but there are few safe places to park that aren’t obvious pull-offs. I count from my car, using a window-mount scope (25x and 40x) and binos. The only time I go to the shore on foot is at the north end if there are shorebirds I cannot ID from the car.
5. STOPPING TO COUNT
I pull over whenever there are birds out on the lake (grebes, gulls, phalaropes, ducks, etc.) or a flock of shorebirds, and do a count from that point. In between stops, I keep a general tally of what I am passing (10 gulls, 5 gulls, 5 avocets, etc.). If there are ever more than I can eyeball as I am passing (more than 20 birds of 1 species) then I stop and count them.
6. COUNTING & ESTIMATING FLOCK SIZE
Start the day with a comfortable # for your estimates, such as 5 or 10 birds if you haven’t counted in awhile. Looking at a flock, you can count them, 5-10-15-20. After counting in groups of 5, you can bump up to 10, then 25, then 50, and then 100. You are training your eye as you go. The point is to keep your accuracy the same as you proceed through the morning count. Try to not exceed estimating 100 birds in a group unless you are experienced in such efforts. Even when I am counting 20,000 phalaropes, I pan my scope through them, estimating 100 at a time. This makes for a more accurate estimate. The exception to this is shorebirds on land, where the flock is more stationary. I sometimes count the total in my scope’s field of view (such as 300 or 500), and use this to pan through the flock to estimate the 10,000 sandpipers or dunlin.
7. COUNTING AT A STOP
When counting shorebirds, I count everything I can see at each stop. I sometimes look up ahead and decide whether to add another stop based on the numbers and visibility.
It really is a science of methods, when counting waterbirds on the lake. Only count straight out (due west) as otherwise you'll double count. The road bends and turns along the lake, so I can commonly see the rafts of grebes, gulls, or phalaropes I counted at the last stop more than 2 miles back - and they are still very clear. But they are never due west of me more than once.
8. GENERAL TRENDS
We want accurate counts, but remember that we are also looking at general trends. Even if counters have different skills/approaches, and we are off by 10,000 (dramatic example), the general trend is still the same. Lake Abert is either hosting 20,000 or 50,000 or 100,000 birds that day. The general trend won’t change no matter who is counting the birds. Accurate counts allow us to dig into the specifics of which species is there and in what number.
GENERAL PROTOCOL:
Include the following information:
- Date - Time - Length (hours) - Weather - Lake level (gauge reading if possible) - Names of birders doing the count
Standard: - start from south end drive north - early morning counts (in general 7am until 11am) - finish before 11am for Spring/late Fall counts and 10am for Summer counts (to avoid wind, heat shimmers, and flocks moving out onto the lake) Bird Categories (following historical data):
- ducks (estimate % Northern Shovelers during Fall) - geese - peeps (sandpipers, etc.) - grebes - gulls (usually California and Ring-billed) - American Avocets - phalaropes
- it is fine to have more detailed information, as long as we can lump them into these categories to compare to historical data
We would also like to tie bird locations to food resources. Please make a note of where you see concentrations of birds and reference the following map .... download
Notes on doing Bird Counts at Lake Abert
1. DIRECTION
Drive from the South (Valley Falls) to the North, starting around 7am or so. The cool mornings allow great visibility across the lake. They key is to get to the north end before it is too hot (heat shimmers) or too late in the day (bird behavior changes). Try and finish by 10 or 10:30am, depending on weather.
2. WEATHER
If the weather is too adverse, try again on the next day or next nearest calm day. If you cannot return, note the adverse weather. The count will most likely be a shorebirds only.
3. HISTORICAL COMPARISON
Count up the east side (Hwy 395) only as this is comparable to historic data. If you want to drive and count the West side (a rough track road), note those birds separately. Also note birds separately if you count them on the River’s End Ranch reservoir.
4. VEHICLE vs. TRIPOD
You can count from your vehicle or on foot. Be safe, the traffic is minimal along the lake, but there are few safe places to park that aren’t obvious pull-offs. I count from my car, using a window-mount scope (25x and 40x) and binos. The only time I go to the shore on foot is at the north end if there are shorebirds I cannot ID from the car.
5. STOPPING TO COUNT
I pull over whenever there are birds out on the lake (grebes, gulls, phalaropes, ducks, etc.) or a flock of shorebirds, and do a count from that point. In between stops, I keep a general tally of what I am passing (10 gulls, 5 gulls, 5 avocets, etc.). If there are ever more than I can eyeball as I am passing (more than 20 birds of 1 species) then I stop and count them.
6. COUNTING & ESTIMATING FLOCK SIZE
Start the day with a comfortable # for your estimates, such as 5 or 10 birds if you haven’t counted in awhile. Looking at a flock, you can count them, 5-10-15-20. After counting in groups of 5, you can bump up to 10, then 25, then 50, and then 100. You are training your eye as you go. The point is to keep your accuracy the same as you proceed through the morning count. Try to not exceed estimating 100 birds in a group unless you are experienced in such efforts. Even when I am counting 20,000 phalaropes, I pan my scope through them, estimating 100 at a time. This makes for a more accurate estimate. The exception to this is shorebirds on land, where the flock is more stationary. I sometimes count the total in my scope’s field of view (such as 300 or 500), and use this to pan through the flock to estimate the 10,000 sandpipers or dunlin.
7. COUNTING AT A STOP
When counting shorebirds, I count everything I can see at each stop. I sometimes look up ahead and decide whether to add another stop based on the numbers and visibility.
It really is a science of methods, when counting waterbirds on the lake. Only count straight out (due west) as otherwise you'll double count. The road bends and turns along the lake, so I can commonly see the rafts of grebes, gulls, or phalaropes I counted at the last stop more than 2 miles back - and they are still very clear. But they are never due west of me more than once.
8. GENERAL TRENDS
We want accurate counts, but remember that we are also looking at general trends. Even if counters have different skills/approaches, and we are off by 10,000 (dramatic example), the general trend is still the same. Lake Abert is either hosting 20,000 or 50,000 or 100,000 birds that day. The general trend won’t change no matter who is counting the birds. Accurate counts allow us to dig into the specifics of which species is there and in what number.
GENERAL PROTOCOL:
Include the following information:
- Date - Time - Length (hours) - Weather - Lake level (gauge reading if possible) - Names of birders doing the count
Standard: - start from south end drive north - early morning counts (in general 7am until 11am) - finish before 11am for Spring/late Fall counts and 10am for Summer counts (to avoid wind, heat shimmers, and flocks moving out onto the lake) Bird Categories (following historical data):
- ducks (estimate % Northern Shovelers during Fall) - geese - peeps (sandpipers, etc.) - grebes - gulls (usually California and Ring-billed) - American Avocets - phalaropes
- it is fine to have more detailed information, as long as we can lump them into these categories to compare to historical data
We would also like to tie bird locations to food resources. Please make a note of where you see concentrations of birds and reference the following map .... download