OSU BIRD NERDSANNUAL REPORT

2015 / 2016 ACADEMIC YEAR

Community Outreach and Workshops

01/26/16 - Pelagic Bird ID Workshop – Led by Adrian Hinkle and Christopher Hinkle - Presented techniques for viewing andidentifying pelagic and coastal bird species found off Oregon’s coast.

01/30/16 - Willamette Valley Bird Symposium - Bird Nerds volunteers assisted at the registration table and hosted our own information table during the symposium. Several current Bird Nerds officers, graduate student advisors, and past members presented during the symposium.

02/17/16 - Bird Nerds e-Portfolio Workshop – Led by Noelle Moen - This workshop was coordinated with the OSU Fisheries and Wildlife club. The workshop was intended to teach students and professionals to create their own website to showcase all of their work and volunteer experience and skills.

02/24-25/16 - OSU Winter Career Fair - Bird Nerds officers and members volunteered in various positions.

03/09/16 - Southeast Oregon Bird ID Workshop – Led by Tyler Hallman - How to correctly identify some of the target species we were likely to encounter on our field trip to SE Oregon. Discussed how to use field marks to recognize and differentiate between water-fowl, upland birds, raptors, and sage-obligate species.

03/12/16 - Winter Wildlife Field Day at William L. Finley National Wildlife Refuge - OSU Bird Nerds ran a birding ID station for kids, helped lead birding walks, and assisted at the event.

04/30/16 - Mist Netting Workshop - Led by Joan Hagar and Josee Rousseau -The mist netting and banding workshop held at Hesthaven Nature Center, graciously provided by the Audubon Society of Corvallis, allowed participants to observe responsible mist netting and banding techniques and discuss the importance of banding for avian population research and monitoring.

05/14/16 - William L. Finley National Wildlife Refuge Open House - Bird Nerds volunteers at the event helped lead birding tours and other activities.

05/19/16 Presentation to the Audubon Society of Cor-vallis on our field trip to Malheur NWR - Bird Nerds officers reported the results of our spring field trip to Malheur National Wildlife Refuge to the monthly meeting of Audubon Society of Corvallis.

05/23/16 - Junction City High School Birding Field Trip Led by Kate Gillow-Wiles and Danielle Ramsden - Bird Nerds helped lead a bird walk and discuss birding techniques for Junction City High School students.

05/28/16 - Albany Boy Scout Troop Birding Walk - Bird Nerds helped lead small groups of boy scouts on birding routes and taught them how to ID birds.

Monthly Meeting Guest Speakers

10/06/2015 - Chintimini Wildlife Center - The Chintimini Wildlife Center brought their wonderful Raptor Ambassadors to discuss conservation issues surrounding raptor species and impacts humans can have on their habitat.

11/17/2015 - Kelsey McCune - Kelsey McCune, graduate student of University of Washington, discussed her behavior research on social learning in Mexican Jays and Western Scrub-Jays.

12/01/2015 - Kristin Jones - within Jim River’s lab, presented on her thesis “Combined effects of intensive forest management and micro-climate on reproduction in a cavity-nesting songbirds”.

01/05/2016 - Amy Barry - Amy Barry, graduate student working towards an MS within Jim River’s lab, discussed her study on cavity-nesting bird use of created snags in the McDonald-Dunn Forest.

02/02/2016 - Fred Ramsey - Fred Ramsey, treasurer of Audubon Society of Corvallis and avid birder, spoke about his trip to Guatemala and the birds he was privileged to encounter.

03/01/2016 - Jon Perry - Jon Perry, founder of Stated Clearly, presented “Evidence for Evolution in Your Own Backyard” discussing evolution of feathers and other structures with original artistic representations.

04/05/2016 - Dr. Dan Roby - Dr. Dan Roby, ornithologist and OSU professor of Wildlife Ecology, presented on Pigeon Guillemot population recovery and sea bird monitoring in Prince William Sound, Alaska.

2015/2016 Academic Big Year Competition

There were a total of 1,246 different species that were logged by Bird Nerds participating in the Academic Big Year Competition this year. Species were found in North America, Central America, South Ameri-ca, Eurasia, and Africa.

Rankings for the Overall category:

10th place (tied): Aaron Palmieri and Noelle Moen with 138 species9th place: Jesse Laney with 241 species8th place: Natasha Peters with 250 species7th place: Tyler Hallman with 281 species6th place: Shayna England with 286 species5th place: Michael Ellis with 394 species4rd place: Peter Kappes with 447 species3rd place: Jenna Curtis with 449 species2nd place: Adrian Hinkle with 611 species1st place: Christopher Hinkle with 620 species

Rankings for Undergraduate category:

6th place: Aaron Palmieri and Noelle Moen5th place: Jesse Laney4th place: Natasha Peters3rd place: Shayna England2nd place: Adrian Hinkle1st place: Christopher Hinkle

Rankings for Graduate category:

4th place: Tyler Hallman3rd place: Michael Ellis2nd place: Peter Kappes1st place: Jenna Curtis

FACULTY ADVISORDr. Susan Haig

OFFICERSNoelle Moen, PresidentBraelei Hardt, Vice PresidentAzita Roshani, TreasurerAaron Palmieri, Secretary

COMMITTEE CHAIRSDanielle Ramsden, Community Outreach ChairJesse A. Laney, Birding Activity ChairKatie Low, Publicity and Public Relations Chair

GRADUATE ADVISORSTyler HallmanPeter KappesJenna Curtis

Oregon State University BIRD NERDS

osubirdnerds.weebly.comDepartment of Fisheries and Wildlife Oregon State University 104 Nash

Corvallis OR 97333-3803

report design by Jesse A. Laneyfront cover photo by M. Waianuhea

Townsend’s Solitaire photo by P. Kappes

Birding Activities & Avian Surveys

10/25/2015 - William L. Finley NWR Trip - Bird Nerds members spent the morning birding at Finley NWR and the Philomath Sewage Ponds

11/11/2015 - Central Oregon Coast Bird Trip - Bird Nerds members spent a day birding on Oregon’s central coast. Student members where introduced to techniques for sea-watching and coastal bird identification.

11/29/2015 - Winter Raptor Survey - Bird Nerds conducted monthly raptor surveys on the central Benton county route of the East Cascades Audubon Society Winter Raptor Survey Project November-February.

12/14/2015 - Tangent Christmas Bird Count - Bird Nerds helped plan and coordinate the 1st official Tangent Christmas Bird Count. Members then participated in the Tangent CBC.

12/15/2015 - Corvallis Christmas Bird Count - Bird Nerds members participated the Corvallis CBC.

12/27/2015 - Winter Raptor Survey

01/31/2016 - Winter Raptor Survey

02/01-29/2015 - Oregon 2020 Owl Surveys - Bird Nerds volunteers conducted owl surveys on various dates throughout the months of February and March. Surveys were conducted using auditory playback techniques in survey squares located near Corvallis Oregon.

02/29/2016 - Winter Raptor Survey

03/01-31/2016 - Oregon 2020 Owl Surveys

03/19-22/16 - OSU Bird Nerds Spring Field Trip Student Introduction to Birds in SE Oregon and the Northern Great Basin - Our 4-day field trip to Malheur NWR, Steens Mountain, Hart Mountain, Chicka-hominy Reservoir, Silver Creek, Silvies Flood Plain, and the surrounding region. We lodged at Malheur Field Station. Stu-dents conducted avian point count training w/ Oregon 2020 personnel and practiced species ID. We observed a total of 101 species.

04/17/2016 - Bald Hill Natural Area Birding Trip - Members spent the morning birding at Bald Hill Birding Natural Area. A total of 50 species were detected during our 4 1/2 hours bird walk

Fundraising

12/2015 - Winter Holiday Cookie Fundraiser - Cookies were sold via pre-order. Officers baked cookies and sold plates of 12 cookies for $10.

02/2016 - Valentine’s Day Cookie Fundraiser -

05/14/2016 - Bird Nerds Birdathon - Five sponsored teams of participants saw a total of 148 species in 24 hours and raised a whopping $537! 25% of total funds were donated to the Cascades Raptor Center.

Cinnamon Teal, photo by Peter Kappes

My Fellow Bird Nerd Members and Associates,

It’s my pleasure to introduce the first Annual Report for the OSU Bird Nerds Club! The purpose of this report is to provide a summary of our club’s accomplishments, events,

and activities during the 2015/2016academic year. It truly has been a busy year for the Bird Nerds! We’ve hosted 14 guest speakers at our monthly meetings and workshops, participated in 7 commu-nity outreach events, organized 12 birding trips & surveys for our student members, and raised over $1500 dollars through fundraising activities and grants. This year

we created two new big activities: The Academic Big Year Competition & the Bird Nerds Birdathon. These activities have been very popular and will be continued annually.

I would like to personally thank all of you who contributed to our club. OSU Bird Nerds would not have been able to accomplish so much without the help from all of our mem-bers, officers, donors, as well as from partners such as the Audubon Society of Corvallis, Oregon Birding Association, Oregon 2020 Project, and the Department of Fisheries and Wildlife at Oregon State University. Your contributions are truly one of our club’s greatest strengths.

I hope you all will enjoy reading this report and sharing in some of the amazing memories we created this year. It has been a privilege and an honor to serve as President of the OSU Bird Nerds this year. Thank you all for your support and for making it so enjoyable. I look forward to continuing on as President next year and seeing our future accomplishments and successes together.

Best regards,

Noelle A. MoenPresident

Western Meadowlarkphoto by Noelle Moen

Noelle Moen Bird Nerds at Steens Mountain in SE Oregon during our 2016 Spring Field Trip, photo by Jesse A. Laney

Sandhill Cranes at Silver Creek during our 2016 Spring Field Trip, photo by Noelle Moen

Above left and right: Snow and Ross’s Geese during our 2016 Spring Field Trip, photos - by Peter KappesBelow left: Cooper’s Hawk, Below right: Pacifc Golden-Plover found during raptor survey - by Jesse Laney

November Central Oregon Coast Birding Trip

Greater Sage-Grouse battle on lek, photo by Peter Kappes

Chintimini Wildlife Center personnel at Bird Nerds Meeting

Chipping Sparrow, photo by Mamo Waianuhea

Bird Nerds at the Willammette Valley Bird Symposium, photo by Sue Haig

Above: Mist Net Workshop, photo by Mamo WaianuheaBelow: Bird Nerds at Borax Lake, photo by Jesse A. Laney