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BirdQuest, which Supports the Stoddard Bird Lab, Returns April 8​

By Jim Cox, Stoddard Bird Lab Director

The boisterous sounds of spring are everywhere as nature shifts from winter survival mode to the procreative rites of spring. Two eaglets are about to fledge on Tall Timbers, while many nuthatches are incubating brown, mottled eggs.

All the activity has the Stoddard Bird Lab anxious to stretch our wings in a manner that has not been easy to do during the pandemic. With life on the mend, we are resurrecting BirdQuest, our annual fundraiser that supports the important work we do with rare birds and the role that prescribed fire plays in maintaining southern pinelands, coastal marshes, and other ecosystems.

BirdQuest 2022 is designed to reflect the breadth of our work. Rather than focus on the birds found on a single Red Hills’ property, we’ll seek out birds on public lands that straddle the Ochlockonee River. We’ll launch before dawn on April 8, listening for birds along the eastern edge of the watershed near Tall Timbers. We’ll then head south looking for migratory warblers along the river’s edge in the Apalachicola National Forest, stop by the old-growth pine forest at Ochlockonee River State Park, before continuing south to end the day on public lands around Ochlockonee Bay, where some of our work with Black Rails is taking place (Mashes Sands and Alligator Point State Park). At day’s end, we hope to have 150 species on our list.

You can keep the enthusiasm running high on April 8, by making a tax deductible contribution to BirdQuest 2022. The goal this year is to secure radio transmitters and a summer internship to assist grad student Destinee Story in her work with the Common Ground-dove. Destinee has marked over 120 individuals on Tall Timbers and Livingston Place, and has her hands full trying to keep up with their movements. The generous support provided by you and others will keep all this hard work going. You can make your pledge on line here. Contributors receive a special account of the daylong event, and your contributions will continue the great legacy of important bird research at Tall Timbers.

The post BirdQuest Returns this Spring appeared first on Tall Timbers.