Spring migration is happening! Many birds are already back, or continuing on northwards into the boreal and arctic regions. Currently we may be getting the first of our three target species, Eastern Meadowlark, Bobolink, and Barn Swallows.
The first to arrive are either still on the move, or are beginning their preparation for establishing a territory and nest. If you are not that familiar with these species now is a great time to brush up on your ID and then keep an eye (and ear) out for them over the next month or so. This way you will be ready to conduct your point counts when the survey season starts on May 24th.
I will be putting together maps of the area to cover and I will send those once they are ready. They will likely cover the same area as you had before. I am hoping that for this year you could go out twice, once early (late May, early June) and once near the end of the survey season (Early July). This way we will be able to see whether the birds were able to stay and breed successfully in those locations. It would be good to note if any of these sites were mowed by the time you returned for the second visit.
Now is a great time to read over your monitoring manual as a refresher before the birds arrive back from their wintering grounds.