As I progressed through my study there were several small insights that came to light.
I approached this study haphazardly, and not in the scientific haphazard application either. Bird identification is not my strong suite and I believe that if I had more skills prior to conducting this study then my species list would have been a more robust outcome. Although point counts are subjective to the study and question at hand, I believe that a more strategized approach and question would have provided a stronger final report.
During my sampling periods there was such prolific bird song that it was often hard to identify different species from one another, however I don’t think this could have been mitigated with any changes in my design.
Overall, I think a more thoughtful approach was needed, but I am still content with the results of my study
Hello again zaretski. It seems that you and I working on BIOL 3021 at a similar pace – nice. I wrote a response to your Blog Post 3, but have been working in the field for the past two weeks, so wasn’t able to post in time for your next set of observations.
Glad to hear that you are content with your observations thus far, even if bird song identification isn’t your strong suit (yet!). I think it’s important to remember that this is a class – to learn about and practice new topics – and that our products likely will not match the journal articles we have been reading, which were written by more experienced ecologists versed in research.
Regarding the song identification/separation difficulties due to the din of calls, one way to determine whether species presence changes throughout the day would be to merely count the number of different songs in morning, day, and night (a continuous variable). This would not require full identification, but may answer your prediction – that species vary throughout the day. However, it may be too simplistic, and would not reflect the types present. It would also require some song memory, to see if the same song is heard throughout the day (like the robin).
I’m guessing you may have done something like this already in an effort to isolate songs. I would worry less on the identification of bird species in the field if it seems tricky, and focus on song isolation. Also, if you’ve not done so already, it may be worth recording some of the busier times for replay later. This could help with identifying same songs heard at different times of day, too, an issue with merely counting songs.
I’ll likely keep reading your blogs – in the meantime, enjoy the ornithology!