Kotzebue / Selawik Spring Bird Walks, May 2008
May 22, 2008-June 1, 2008
On May 22, we flew from Homer to Anchorage to Kotzebue. There we were greeted by Selawik Manager Lee Anne Ayres and Outreach Coordinator Susan Georgette, settled in at the Bunkhouse, and given a tour of the area. At 7pm we met with Linda Jeschke of the National Park Service, the partner agency of the bird walks, and coordinator of the event. We took four interested persons (2 adults, 2 children) for a 1 and ½ hour drive/walk looking for shorebirds and waterfowl. We were assisted by the 2 refuge and 1 park service staff. The Park Service also provided hot and cold drinks and snacks for the participants.
The next morning, May 23, we met with Kotzebue Day Care Center staff and director Tracie to talk about taking a few children on morning bird walks. Then we had a radio interview on the local station KOTZ discussing birding in general and this project in particular. Then we returned to the Day Care and picked up four children ages 5-7 plus one teacher for an hour of birding.
Afterwards we developed a Power Point presentation of Kotzebue area birds which we would run prior to the remaining Community Bird Walks.
Sat. May 24, we led a Bird Walk at 3PM. This was attended by 14 adults and children, plus refuge and park service staff.
On Sunday, May 25, we led a 7AM bird walk/drive attended by 4 children, most of whom had stayed up all night. No walk was scheduled for Monday, a holiday.
Tuesday morning, May 27, we took out 5 Day Care children and 2 teaching staff for an hour.
At 7PM we took out 12 adults and children, along with 2 from the refuge or park service.
Weds. May 28 we flew to the village of Selawik where we were met by Clyde Ramoth, USF&W Information Technician (and former Tribal Chief and Mayor of Selawik). We led one bird walk in the community attended by 7 children and assisted by Clyde. We spent time consulting with Clyde this day and the next regarding future birding opportunities for children, how to engage them, what tools and expertise are needed, etc. On Thursday May 29 we had more discussions and were given a boat ride on the river before returning to Kotzebue.
Friday, May 30 we took out 5 Day Care children plus 1 teacher in the morning and 12 adults and children plus 2 staff at 7PM.
Saturday, May 31, we did another radio spot about the Bird Walks and talked more about Friends of the Alaska NWRs, then at 3PM began the final Community Bird Walk. This was attended by 15 persons (families, couples, single adults and children) with 1 refuge person assisting.
Additionally, during the week we took out 3 individuals for birding outings at the request of the refuge, and we made cds of the Power Point presentation to distribute to interested parties,
In total we took out approximately 85 persons during our time in Kotzebue and Selawik. We led 10 birding outings with two additional outings with individuals outside the scheduled walks. Attendance varied from 4 to 15 participants at each event, with from 1 to 3 assistants. We utilized Friends binoculars on occasion, when adults and older children were present. At other times we used National Park Service binoculars better suited for small hands as well as other optics they made available. We also used our own personal spotting scopes and refuge bird guides and check lists.
We were asked by the National Park Service and the Selawik NWR staff to consider doing this project again next year. We will be consulting with both the refuge and park service on how to improve and expand the birding opportunities around Kotzebue and Selawik.
Selawik NWR was very generous in providing all of the expenses for this project including all of our transportation costs, housing, vehicles, and a per diem for food. The refuge and park service staff were wonderful to work with and most appreciative of everything we did. The community was very receptive to the project and everyone who participated seemed to have a great deal of fun. They seemed to enjoy seeing and learning about the birds who migrate through or call Kotzebue home.
Highlights of our bird list include: Bluethroat, Wheatear, Snow Goose, Tundra Swan, Long-Tailed Jaeger, Yellow Wagtail, and both Golden Plovers. Highlights of the outings were having a 2-year old child pointing up at a passing gull and saying “Look, Look!” and having a 6-year old boy who came on several trips recalling the complete names of each species seen. We saw that our Spring Bird Walks project did help build an appreciation for nature and the environment and were both very happy to be a part of it.
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