Greetings All! We had a great time down in southwest Iowa for our first Blockbusting weekend! A special thanks to everyone who helped out. We didnt get a lot of local volunteers, but between the five of us, we were able to visit 8-9 blocks in the area that had no data before. I think this is a pretty nice accomplishment. I was pleasantly surprised by the great expanses of grassland in Page and Montgomery counties that were in blocks with no public land. From the road, I was able to get a lot of neat species.
Highlights for me included: Northern Bobwhite- seen and heard (PO-X) in Blocks 709 and 710 (Page county) Common Nighthawk- (PO-X) Block 639 (Montgomery) Eastern Kingbird- pair/copulating observed (PR-C)- Block 710 (Page) Northern Mockingbird- (PO-X) Block 709 (Page) Brown Thrasher- A lot of pairs seen in all blocks visited (PR-P) Grasshopper Sparrow- >7 males singing (PR-M) all over Rose-breasted Grosbeak- (PR-M) A lot heard and seen at Anderson WA- Block 639 (Montgomery) Dickcissel- (PR-M) heard everywhere! Bobolink- (PR-M) Block 710 (Page) and many, many more! Our next Blockbusting Weekend will be June 26-28 in Dickinson County. I highly encourage anyone whos interested to come and join us. Blockbusting is a great way to get a lot of blocks visited in a short time frame, an excuse to hang out with old friends, and a great reason to be outdoors! If you, or anyone you know, are interested in helping with the Dickinson county Blockbusting Weekend, please let me know. We could definitely use the help as there is a high concentration of blocks in the Spirit Lake/Okoboji area. Please remember, the more data we collect in the first years of the project, the easier it will be in the final years to complete all the blocks. This project really does depend on everyone to pitch in and confirm nesting of Iowas birds. The more we know about where birds are nesting, the more we can do to provide habitat and protect them from decline. We need your help to make sure birds in Iowa are protected! To learn more about the 2nd Iowa Breeding Bird Atlas and how you can get involved, please contact me or visit our website at http://bba.iowabirds.org. Thank you! Take Care, Nicki Nagl BBA Volunteer Coordinator O: (515)432-2823 ext. 117 Email: [email protected] --- Please contribute your sightings to our list; it is only as good as members make it! --- Birding channel recommendation for FRS/GMRS radio use: Primary selection; channel 5/0 , alternate selection; channel 6/0 --- This mailing list is sponsored by the Iowa Ornithologists' Union. Membership available on-line at http://www.iowabirds.org/iou/membership.asp. ----- You are currently subscribed to ia-bird as: [email protected]
