Hi folks,

A well-respected birder/educator in the state sent me the question below, so I thought I would answer it for all of those who may be interested.

> Charlie, > Are your mist-netting and banding activities part of an ongoing > study?

Yes, but both projects are preliminary at this point; I still need to train more assistants to sample these areas in a statistically viable way.

1) For Joe Kurz WMA in Meriwether County, a state biologist asked me to sample an approximately 10-hectare field that has been under an agriculture lease and may be converted to native warm-season grasses and forbs in the next couple years. The MAPS (short for Monitoring Avian Productivity and Survivorship; a protocol developed by the Institute for Bird Populations) station I am conducting there is designed to get a "before" look. For more information on the MAPS protocol, see http://www.birdpop.org/maps.htm

1) Phil Delestrez at Panola Mountain State Park asked me to help sample the population in an area where they have recently completed an artificial wetland. The major emphasis in this area will be the birds (especially sparrows) which winter here. The very sporadic sampling I've done to date has a few purposes: get me familiar with the area so I can set up proper net lanes; train volunteer assistants; determine which species are truly resident, versus those which are represented year round, but not by the same individuals.

The dragofly stuff is just fun - no research involved.

Great question. Please let me know if you (any of you) have any more.

Charlie Muise Lamar County

____________________________________________________________________________________ The fish are biting. Get more visitors on your site using Yahoo! Search Marketing. http://searchmarketing.yahoo.com/arp/sponsoredsearch_v2.php

********** To search GABO-L archives or manage your subscription, go to http://www.listserv.uga.edu/archives/gabo-l.html

To contact a listowner, send message to GABO-L-request@LISTSERV.UGA.EDU

To view GABO-L information/guidelines, go to http://www.gos.org/gabo.html