On Saturday, May 7, from 1 to 2 pm, the Shaver Pond Nature Center at Grafton Lake State Park and the Cornell Lab of Ornithology will be hosting a training session for NestWatch volunteers. In this program, you will learn more about NestWatch and how you can participate, including tips on how to safely locate and monitor nests.
Whether in a shrub, a tree or a nest box, bird nests are all around us. By monitoring a nearby nest you can help scientists study the biology of North America’s birds and how it might be changing over time.
Every spring and summer, volunteers from across the country visit nests and report their findings to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s NestWatch program. As a NestWatcher, you keep tabs on bird family life, following the progression from incubated eggs, to fuzzy chicks, to gawky youngsters ready to take their first fluttering flight. Your data is then submitted online where it is added to a continually growing database that is used to monitor bird populations and study their behavior. Through our collective efforts, we aim to better understand how and why bird populations thrive and decline so that ultimately we can take the necessary steps to conserve birds everywhere. Together we can make a difference.
Please RSVP to Liz Wagner at Elizabeth.wagner@oprhp.state.ny.us or by calling 279-1155. The Shaver Pond Nature Center is located at 194 Shaver Pond Road in Grafton. For more about NestWatch, please visit www.nestwatch.org. For more information about programs at Grafton Lakes State Park, please check www.nysparks.com/parks or follow us on Facebook®.