Bird Survey at Brumley North

What is this project?
Triangle Land Conservancy (TLC) has been awarded a grant from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology aimed at helping land trusts improve bird habitats and engaging their local communities in the process. TLC is working on a few land management activities aimed at improving the quality of habitat at Brumley North, which is an eBird hotspot in NC. These activities include prescribed burns, removing invasive plant species, planting native seeds and plugs, and doing bird-centered outreach events. TLC and New Hope Audubon Society (NHAS) will be partnering together to achieve some of the grant’s goals, including completing seasonal bird surveys on-site. Seasonal and formal bird surveys will help document what species are found on site and if our targeted land management activities are having any impact on resident bird populations in the future.

Why do we do this project?
TLC applied for this grant to improve wildlife habitat at the Brumley Nature Preserve. Protecting land and setting it aside for conservation is important, but we are often left with land that has been degraded and/or taken over by invasive plant species. TLC hopes to reserve some of this land legacy and make space for native plant species and a diversity of habitat assemblages on site. Also, engaging local communities on the richness and diversity of local plant and animal communities is vital to their long-term conservation. This is an opportunity for people to directly engage with on-the-ground conservation work in their area.

When will the survey happen?
Bird surveys will happen every spring and fall migration seasons for about 9-10 weeks. Volunteers will begin their survey around 7:30 am.

How to participate in this project?
NHAS will facilitate volunteer sign-up through a google spreadsheet (click here to visit the sign-up sheet). Volunteers should be knowledgeable on bird identification for the NC Piedmont, however, those wishing to learn more on the subject are welcome and invited to join a seasoned expert on these surveys!

• • Step 1: Click here to visit the sign-up sheet. You can pick any time slots to survey birds at Brumley N. For example, if you sign up for Sep 10-13, you can choose any day between Sep 10 and Sep 13 to do your bird count. On the same day, you can reserve both the Dairy Farm Trail loop (green trail on the map) and Stony Creek Bluff Trail (red trail on the map) or only one of them. Email Jin Bai at [email protected] to reserve your survey dates and trails.

• Step 2: Data collection protocol.
  1. Please start an eBird traveling checklist (choose the Brumley N hotspot or create a new location) and indicate which trail you visited in the checklist comments (make sure your checklist comment is visible to the public). Please use two separate checklists if you sign up for both trails on the same day.
  2. The pace for the transect should run about 0.6 miles per half hour, capturing birds within a 20 m (65.5 ft) distance on either side of the trails.
  3. Counting fly-throughs (FT): All birds that fly through a transect area (flying below the tallest structure in a census area) but do not land on any structure should be counted as FT. Make a note of FT in the species comment.
  4. Counting fly-overs (FO): All higher-flying birds (flying above the tallest structure in a survey area) should also be noted if they are within the boundaries of the transect. Make a note of FO in the species comment.
  5. Start your count at roughly 7:30 am each visit.
• Step 3: Submit your data. Go to eBird to locate your checklists on a browser from a phone or computer and copy and paste the URL link into an email (such as https://ebird.org/atlasnc/checklist/S118427732). Send the email to Jin Bai at [email protected].

Thank you for your interest in helping Triangle Land Conservancy (TLC) support bird conservation at our Brumley (North) Nature Preserve!
Starting from the 2024 spring survey, volunteers will now get compensation for their survey efforts with $30 per visit (if visit both trails) or $15 per visit (if visit only one trail). Volunteers will get a check with the total compensation accumulated over the survey season.

Jin Bai
Community Science Committee Chair
New Hope Audubon Society
[email protected]

Hannah Royal
Stewardship Associate
Triangle Land Conservancy
[email protected]