Shaw Woods Avian Monitoring Project
The Shaw Woods Avian Monitoring Project (S.W.A.M.P.) is a collaborative research project involving Professor Caleb Gordon's lab at Lake Forest College, the Lake Forest Open Lands Association and members of the Lake Forest and greater Chicago area communities.
The primary research goals are 1) to monitor population trends, and 2) to study the stopover ecology of Nearctic-Neotropical woodland migrant landbirds during spring migration. Another important goal of S.W.A.M.P. is to create a community-based research project that enhances public involvment in, and appreciation for biological research.
Following is Professor Caleb Gordon's open invitation to participate in his research as well as rules & regulations to insure the enjoyment and education of all participants as well as to maximize the safety to the birds.
April 15, 2008:
Hi everyone,
Bird banding, anyone? Though you'd never know it from the cold-delayed
state of the spring bloom around here, the 7th year of the Shaw Woods Avian Monitoring Project (SWAMP) is just two weeks away. I hope you'll join me in Lake Forest this May to enjoy some rich, birdy goodness as we put our finger back on the pulse of Chicagoland's spring songbird migration in hopes of learning more about our fine feathered friends.
If you received this message, that means that you are on my list and you
will receive my "catch of the day" emails during May, as well as other
SWAMP-related information. If you are interested in participating in some
SWAMP field work this May, please keep this email message for your
reference, as it contains all of the information you should need in order to
participate in the project. I don't give out my email list of SWAMP
participants to anyone, and I don't include recipients' email addresses in
the header with any of my messages. If you know of others who you think
might be interested in participating in this project, by all means give them
my email address and feel free to forward this message to them. I will add
them if they contact me. If you wish to be dropped from my email list,
please let me know.
This year is planned to proceed exactly like last year. We will band
birds at the same site (Skokie River Nature Preserve, at the west end of
Laurel Ave. in Lake Forest) every day, weather permitting, from May 1 to May
31 for 5 hours per day (5-10am). It takes about 15 people to run our 15
nets during the heavy part of the migration, which can occur throughout May, as we learned last year with 100+ bird capture days in the first week. For this reason, SWAMP is dependent on a lot of volunteer participation. I am deeply grateful to those of you who have helped make our first six seasons highly successful, and hopeful that our 2008 season will be fueled by the same level of enthusiasm.
So, please review the information below for details and procedures on
the project. Contact me via email or by phone at 847-735-6051 if you have
any further questions, and then pencil in as much SWAMP bird banding as you would like (keeping in mind the day-before weather cancellation procedure).
I'm looking forward to seeing you soon at SWAMP! Cheers,
-C SWAMP 2007 BASIC INFORMATION
The address of the SWAMP website is
http://www.lakeforest.edu/academics/faculty/gordon/swamp/ Check it out for info on the basics on what the project is all about, lots of photos and our
results from the past six years, pdfs of two articles that students and I
have published in The Meadowlark based on SWAMP data, and summaries of SWAMP-related research projects conducted by Lake Forest College students.
For a step-by-step pictorial description of the bird mist-netting and
banding process at SWAMP, visit
http://www.lfola.org/preserves_scientific.html and click on "bird banding."
This project is indebted to the Lake Forest Open Lands Association
(LFOLA) who owns and manages The Skokie River Nature Preserve, and who has been very generous in giving their support and permission for this project. Please visit their website http://www.lfola.org/index.html to learn more about the conservation and education activities of this impressive organization. WHAT WILL I BE DOING AS A SWAMP VOLUNTEER?
The main ways that volunteers contribute are by removing captured birds from mist nets, banding/measuring birds, opening and closing mist nets and recording data. All participants 9 years old or older are welcome to learn and receive instruction in removing birds from mist nets, assuming that we have enough birds on any given day for everyone to have a chance. Bird banding and measuring is restricted to people 9 years old or older who have volunteered 3 or more days. DO I NEED EXPERIENCE?
No. Most people have never handled birds before, and one mission of SWAMP is to train people in basic bird handling techniques. First time volunteers will be asked to observe my demonstration of bird extraction techniques three times before they try it themselves, and then to make sure that an experienced bird extractor is present when they try it themselves for the first time. There may be days when we don't catch enough birds for everyone to handle a bird, but in general, everyone should view this as an opportunity to learn and practice basic bird handling techniques. On the other hand, if you do _not_ want to handle birds, you certainly will not be compelled to do so, and there are many other ways to contribute, such as by recording data. PHYSICAL RIGOR
Helping at SWAMP is most suitable for people who are comfortable with
moderate/fairly rigorous hiking. There are a small number of jobs for
people who have difficulty walking, but it is still a 1/4 mile hike into the
site. For most volunteers, there will be a fair amount of hiking around
through muddy and brushy terrain. SIGN-UP PROCEDURE
The only people who need plan in advance and sign up with me are those who are bringing groups of more than 5 people. If not, you may simply plan on showing up with no advance notice any day you want. Make sure to avoid weather cancelled days that I will announce by 3pm the day before (see below). WEATHER CANCELLATION AND INFORMATION PROCEDURE
I will make a decision on whether or not to band on a particular day based
on weather forecasts by no later than 3pm the day before, at which time I
will send an email to the SWAMP mailing list indicating that banding has
been cancelled for the following day. I will also indicate whether or not
we will be banding the following day on my outgoing voicemail greeting at
847-735-6051 which I will update by no later than 3pm each day. EVERY DAY IN MAY SOUNDS LIKE A LOT. MAY I COME OUT JUST ONCE?
Yes. Most volunteers come out just once or a handful of times. Others come out on a more regular basis. All are appreciated, and encouraged to come only as often as you are so inclined. No one except me does it every day :) WAVE DAY ALERT CALL CHAIN
In order to add flexibility to "call out the troops" on a big wave day, I
would like to once again implement a call chain system. The way this works is that if we are deluged with a massive concentration of birds on a given day, we call people from a cell phone in the field beginning at 600am to bring in reinforcements so that we can safely process as many birds as
possible. This system allows us to be prepared with lots of help on the
days we need it, while avoiding having lots of people who need to get work
done standing around bored on relatively slow days. If your schedule and
constraints lend themselves to being on the wave day alert call chain
(people who live and/or work relatively close to Lake Forest, and reachable
by phone at 6am), email me back to indicate this, give me the phone number at which I should call you (remember, 6am), and I'll put your phone number on the wave day alert call list. Last year, we only sent out calls on one or two days, so if you do sign up, be assured that you will not be barraged with early morning phone calls all month. MEETING TIME, PLACE, DIRECTIONS, PARKING
Because of severe parking constraints at the Preserve where SWAMP is
located, the meeting place/time/parking is somewhat complex. There are
basically two options.
1) The first and simplest (but earliest) is to meet us at Lake Forest
College middle campus at 430am, park your car, and ride over to the site in
the van with my students and I. We get there in time to have all of the
nets open by 5am.
2) The first net check, which is when more volunteers are needed as we
start to have birds to process, is at 6am, so most volunteers are encouraged to arrive at 530am and meet us at the site. Unfortunately, there is only room for a small number of cars at the site. Therefore, if you choose the latter option, you are strongly encouraged to carpool with others. Directions to Lake Forest College Middle Campus from the tollway or rte
41:
Take rte 60 east from the tollway to rte 41, and then just north of the
junction of rtes 41 and 60, take Deerpath east through the town of Lake
Forest, over the railroad tracks, and then turn right onto Sheridan at the
stop sign where you see First Presbyterian church on your left. After only
a few hundred yards heading south, take your first left in between stone
pillars onto the main part of Lake Forest College middle campus. After
passing between two large buildings, the entrance drive opens up into a
parking lot. Park in this lot and walk to the bottom of the lot where you
will see the white minivan in which I will drive everyone over to the site
at 4:30am. To make sure you don't miss the van, I would suggest showing up at 4:20. Directions to the site from the tollway or rte 41:
Take rte 60 east from the tollway to rte 41, and then just north of the junction of rtes 41 and 60, take Deerpath east. Shortly after passing Deerpath Middle School on the right, make a left turn at the traffic light onto Greenbay road headed North. After passing a few small cross streets, make a left onto Laurel Avenue. This is a small street marked only by a small green streetsign.
There is no light or stopsign on Greenbay road at the intersection with
Laurel. Drive west to the end of Laurel. We are permitted to park three
cars in addition to the van at the end of Laurel. As I mentioned above, I
will send out further information on additional parking at the site when and
if it becomes available. To find our field location from the end of Laurel
Ave., walk west over the footbridge that crosses the creek beyond the end of Laurel Avenue, and turn right onto the woodchip path that heads north on the west side of the creek. Follow this trail North, staying to the right at
any trail intersections, until you come to a section where the trail goes
right alongside the west bank of the creek for a stretch, and then you come
to a T-junction with an E-W trail with another bridge crossing the creek.
Instead of turning right and crossing the bridge, turn left heading West on
this trail, and you will see our little field station with card tables set
up at a trail intersection in approximately 300 meters. ENDING TIME
The nets are normally closed at 10am. The van will return to
LFC campus when the bird processing is finished and the equipment and signs are put away, usually between 11:00 and noon depending on how many birds we catch in the late part of the morning. Volunteers who have parked at the site may leave whenever they need to, though it is most appreciated if people stay until the bird processing is done, particularly if it is a busy day with lots of birds where a lot of help is needed. BANDING IN THE RAIN POLICY
Because of the bird safety risk, we do not band in the rain. This means
that even if we've decided to go ahead and attempt to band on a given day
based on the weather forecast, we will not open the nets if it is raining,
and if it begins raining while the nets are open, we will close them. MOSQUITOS AND REPELLANTS
I request that you not use DEET if you are planning to handle birds, out of
concern for the damage that it can do to birds. There are several points to
keep in mind with respect to mosquitos: 1) Mosquito density at SWAMP has been quite low all throughout May for the past six years. 2) There are
non-deet mosquito repellants such as Skin-so-soft that are safer for bird
handling even if they are somewhat less effective as repellants. APPROPRIATE DRESS AND FOOTWEAR
Expect mud up to mid calf level. Old hiking boots or sturdy sneakers that
you don't mind being turned into mud cakes are best. Some people prefer
tall rubber boots (Wellies). Based on the wetness and muddiness, the most critical item of clothing is probably thick socks that will keep your feet
comfortable even if they are cold and wet. Expect pants to get muddy.
Expect cold. The temperature can drop down into the thirties predawn in
early May, and if it is overcast and/or damp, it may not warm up very much.
The best thing to do is to wear layers that can be removed if it warms up.
A waterproof layer on top (raincoat/poncho) is good in the event of rain or
wet vegetation. FOOD/WATER
No food or water is provided, so please bring whatever you will need. The
simplest thing is to eat and drink before you come to the station, so that
you do not need to carry in extra stuff, and worry about hand sanitation.
If you do plan on bringing food and/or drink, also bring hand sanitizer in
case you have handled birds prior to consuming. AVIAN FLU
Happily, the fears about avian flu have subsided somewhat, both because it still hasn't appeared in North America, and also because of the discovery
that its mutation into a form capable of being transmitted between humans is less likely than originally thought. Furthermore, the only known cases of
transmission of the disease to humans are from domestic poultry, and among wild birds, it has been found almost exclusively in waterfowl and
shorebirds. However, I want to encourage everyone to find out about it and
make your own judgment about whether or not you feel safe being exposed to birds at SWAMP. Here's a link to the US Bird banding lab's page on avian flu, which contains links to all of the current information about this disease.
http://www.nwhc.usgs.gov/disease_information/avian_influenza/index.jsp CAN CHILDREN PARTICIPATE?
Please feel free and encouraged to bring children along to participate at
SWAMP. If they are 9 years old or older, this is usually a good age to
learn the full range of basic bird handling techniques if they are willing
and interested. If they are younger than 9, they will probably have the
opportunity to hold a bird briefly in their hand and let it fly away, but
may not be ready to take birds out of nets, and I would expect that an
accompanying adult would be on hand at all times to supervise them. PHOTOGRAPHY, MAY I TAKE PICTURES?
Your right to take in-hand close-up photos of birds is one of the privileges
of participating in SWAMP. You may take action shots at any time, and for
in-hand posed shots, I only ask that we wait until all the data is gathered
on a particular bird before it is photographed. That way we minimize the
risk of a bird escaping before data is collected. Also, if a bird is
exceptionally stressed, or if we are especially busy at a particular time in
the field, photography opportunities on particular birds may be limited. STAYING ON THE PATHS
While the nets, themselves are located in disturbed habitats dominated by
introduced woody species, much of the preserve in which SWAMP is conducted contains many rare, restricted, and specialized plants, many of which have been restored at significant expense of money and labor by Lake Forest Open Lands Association. This is particularly true in the area right around the banding tables. It is critical that we minimize damage to herbaceous plants by staying on paths wherever possible. THANK YOU
Once again, I thank you in advance for your help, which is the lifeblood of
this project. I am really looking forward to seeing those of you that have
made the last six seasons so fun and successful, and to meeting many new people this year. Get ready. SWAMP time approaches! Cheers,
-C Caleb E. Gordon, Ph. D.
Box N 13 Lake Forest College
555 N. Sheridan Rd.
Lake Forest, IL 60045
847-735-6051 | 
