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Field Notebook

Point Count Update – Hiring for 2025 and 2024 Wrap Up

December 10, 2024 | Elva Manquera | Klamath Call Note, Conservation, Field Notebook, KBO Science

The year is almost over and soon it will be 2025. To get ready for the new year KBO is searching for its 2025 field technician crew for its point count program. The avian point count surveys will take place from April 28th through July 18th, throughout the ecologically diverse and beautiful regions of southern Oregon, eastern Oregon, and/or northern California. Technicians will conduct work related to multiple projects including monitoring effects of oak and conifer forest restoration on species distributions and long-term monitoring on both private and public lands. Plus check out how the 2024 season went! We are very thankful for our excellent point count crew this year, who put in an amazing effort to collect high-quality data throughout the region, while also navigating life in the field. In 2024 they recorded over 29,000 individuals of over 200 different species on surveys. At Klamath Bird Observatory, we are happy to have another successful season on the books and are looking…

Day in a Life of a Point Counter

January 17, 2024 | Elva Manquera | Klamath Call Note, Field Notebook

Day in a Life of a Point Counter was written by Sam Webb. Join her for a morning at Lava Beds National Park. Exploring a point count route and collecting data for the National Park Service Klamath Inventory and Monitoring Network. Since 2008, KBO has been conducting long term bird monitoring in partnership Klamath Inventory and Monitoring Network. The advantage of long-term monitoring, compared to our other field studies, is that it allows us to detect trends in bird populations, and provides data that will inform future restoration or conservation planning efforts within protected areas.

How to Track an Oregon Vesper Sparrow

August 18, 2020 | KBO | Klamath Call Note, Field Notebook, KBO Science

Oregon Vesper Sparrows are a declining and at-risk subspecies unique to the Pacific Northwest. This June, KBO staff spent time in the field placing miniature GPS tags on Oregon Vesper Sparrows to discover their migratory routes and wintering grounds. We thought you might be interested in the process!

The Life of a KBO Nest-Searcher

December 10, 2019 | KBO | Klamath Call Note, Birds & Birding, Conservation, Field Notebook, KBO Family, KBO Science

by Nicholas Kronick Named after the abundance of camas lilies dotting the meadow blue through the long days of June, Lily Glen offers a fine sight that comes alive in the summer. This May-July, my field partner and I spent our days here with the purpose of locating and monitoring the nests of a local […]

Field Note from Whiskeytown National Recreation Area by Jim DeStaebler, Point Count Program Field Technician

August 28, 2018 | KBO | Klamath Call Note, Field Notebook

I’m at the last point count station of the day, near the saddle of a ridge, at the top of a draw. The mature mixed conifer-oak forest is humid and dark after a late spring rain. And it’s quiet, in contrast to the dry live oak and manzanita chaparral nearby. As I start the count, […]

Volunteers from Humboldt State University help KBO recapture Yellow-breasted Chats returning from Mexico with valuable data

February 7, 2018 | KBO | Klamath Call Note, Field Notebook, KBO Science

Introduction by Sarah Rockwell: We described the start of the Yellow-breasted Chat geolocator project in a previous blog post (CLICK HERE TO VIEW). Geolocators are lightweight devices designed to track a birds’ whereabouts by recording daily light levels. These novel data can then be used to determine migratory routes and wintering grounds—we need to know […]

NOVEMBER TALK AND WALK: ADVENTURES IN BIRDING THE KLAMATH BASIN

November 21, 2017 | KBO | Klamath Call Note, Birds & Birding, Field Notebook, KBO Education

It is hard to say what I enjoyed more. Was it the photographs Mel Clements showed us depicting the seasons of the Klamath Basin accompanied to music at the evening talk? Was it being in the Butte Valley with master birding guide Frank Lospalluto pointing out the 10 or so Golden Eagles? Or was it […]

Faces in the Dark – a field day tale

June 17, 2017 | KBO | Klamath Call Note, Field Notebook

Faces in the Dark by Claudia Strijek I stood outside the barbed-wire fence that guarded the historical barn from vandals, camera and binoculars in hand. The fence was also protecting a family of barn owls. I had seen one of the adults fly into the upper loft through an opening on the west side the […]

The Old Ones – a field day tale

May 28, 2017 | KBO | Klamath Call Note, Field Notebook

The Old Ones By Claudia Strijek The old ones were here when the erupting earth spewed forth a fire river. They saw the red and orange molten rock fill the valley and saw huge plumes of smoke. They stared at the changing landscape for too long and the red burned into their eyes. So now we all […]

Eyes Upon Me – a field day tale

May 22, 2017 | KBO | Klamath Call Note, Field Notebook

Eyes Upon Me By Claudia Strijek I glance up haphazardly thru thin trees, binoculars in hand, looking for winged activity. My eyes meet a fierce stare only a few feet above me. I freeze in place hoping to not cause this little hunter to flush. Two small golden eyes, surrounded by spotted feathers forming a […]