I retired from NOAA Fisheries at the end of 2021 after more than 40 years. I now volunteer for several environmentally focused organizations in Essex County Massachusetts. I do this mostly to help increase environmental awareness of the organization's guests on walks and the general public's through everyday encounters. While much of this revolves around birding, other activities such as maple sugaring tours and assistance with school groups are more focused on general nature topics.
I started birding over 40 years ago while regularly going to sea for work and casually maintained an interest over the years. In 2021, I enrolled in Massachusetts Audubon’s Birders Certificate Program (BCP). Since I retired, I've been able to dedicate significantly more time to birding. As a part of BCP, I identified a number of worthwhile birding spots in and around Beverly MA. Drawing on experienced Beverly birders, I worked with Cornell University’s Laboratory of Ornithology eBird staff and others to create new birding hotspots in the city. I continue to seek out additional birding hotspots in Beverly by frequently visiting parks, playgrounds, and other open spaces.
With the birding spots now largely identified, I am, with a number of long time and new to the area birders, trying to develop a more complete picture of the birds in Beverly, their habitats and habits. I myself, focusing on under birded areas, and those where the habitats should support particular species such as Eastern Whip-poor-wills, American Kestrels, and the suite of grassland birds that are found in this area, and have nested in Beverly previously. In order to accomplish this I use iNaturalist to look for specific plants that can be indicators of habitat, various state data layers in their public GIS system and previous work done by city organizations.
Much of this has translated into my volunteer activities, including participating in biodiversity monitoring efforts, training others in eBird and iNaturalist, and participating and organizing bioblitz.
Here are things, and links to things that I'm interested in, mostly related to nature, with a birding bent.
eBird: I've been using eBird since 2010 and I've gone back to my previous Excel and paper lists and input those into eBird. All of my current birding activity is reported to eBird. This includes mostly Essex County, but also any trip that I take anywhere in the world. Here is my profile page.
iNaturalist: I started with iNaturalist through my volunteer work with the Trustees a few years ago. Since then I've been using it extensively and just started loading my bird photos as well. Most of my observations are in Beverly. I use iNaturalist a lot to look for habitat where specific birds might be found. Here is my page.
MyCoast: Here you can see pictures around the coast of Beverly from myself and others of high and King Tides, as well as damage from storms.
NatureGroupie: a network to connect volunteers to more than 200 conservation organizations across New England. These organizations post volunteer opportunities to a shared calendar, making it easier for you to find interesting outdoor volunteer experiences near you.
SciStarter: Their tag line is "Find volunteer opportunities that match topics you're curious or concerned about. There's something for everyone!"
CoCoRaHS: The Community Collaborative Rain, Hail and Snow Network records and displays local reports of precipitation across North America. Rain gauges can be purchased from them and mounted in an appropriate location in your yard or deck.
Below is a blog that I contribute to from time to time.