Keep on keeping on

Boy oh Boy the end of the semester is really starting to hit. I have three papers including the final research paper for stem due. I am making some headway on my data though. I'm hoping to get my paper done soon so I can get my free time back to get outdoors here around Phoenix before I move up to Flagstaff for the Summer and Tucson in the Fall. I still have a few trails I haven't made it to yet.

Working on the final parts of the project

Black Throated Sparrow

Phainopepla

Now that the semester and my project are coming to a close I am getting my report put together and building data tables and graphs and most importantly trying to make sense of the data that I gathered. Looking back, I have already identified some mistakes I made in the way I designed my study that I'm looking forward to correcting on future projects. One of my biggest issues was that I wish I had narrowed the scope of my research and really focused my question more than I had. The sites I studied were great and gave some great data to look at but I think if I had come up with a more focused question I could have made more intentional and meaningful site selections. That being said, this study gave me a great overview of different types of environments and I think it may have lead me to a new research focus within my field of study. My data collection at Tres Rios wetlands made me very curious if we could create more areas like Tres Rios to help sustain biodiversity. It is a part of the waste water treatment plant in west phoenix and now it is one of the most important sites for bird biodiversity in the state. I am hoping to learn more about how we can integrate these types of environments into our needs as humans, especially in urban environments where biodiversity is most negatively effected by our actions.

Last Month of Collection

So this is the last month that I will be collecting data for this project and I am honestly a little sad to see it end. This has been a great experience so far and I'm excited to finish it up and write my report. I haven't had a chance to really dive into all of my data points yet so I'm really anxious to start pulling them apart and putting reason to them.

On a personal note, I found out this week that I was accepted into NAU's summer REU program. So I will be spending my summer studying endangered native fish species in Flagstaff. I am so excited to take part in this intensive research experience. I know this will help push my goals forward when I transfer to UA.

Birds and Beers

Flowers at the Audubon Center

This week I would like to talk about a lecture series that I attended at Audubon Phoenix. This Thursday, the Phoenix Audubon center hosted an event called birds and beers. Birds and beers is an event that is meant to highlight water conservation in Arizona. The Audubon society started a collaboration with craft brewers in Arizona called the western brewers alliance, these brewers are meant to be an outreach point to people who might not be as exposed to wildlife and water conservation. This event was presented by the head brewers of Arizona wilderness brewing and Borderlands brewing. The brewer at Arizona Wilderness was originally a landscape photographer before he began brewing, it was this passion that lead him to want to work with the Audubon. During his time as a brewer he has worked diligently to make sure that his businesses are as sustainable as possible. But he didn't stop with just what he was doing, he wanted to make sure that the ingredients that he was sourcing was as sustainable as well. Now he has helped head the resurgence of barley being grown in the verde valley which replaced alfalfa which requires so much more water. He also helped to get the first malter opened in the state so that brewers don't have to always buy and ship barley from thousands of miles away. So the next time that you're out grabbing a beer take a look for the Audubon label and help support conservation in the state.

Finishing up data collection for February

Great Blue Heron

Red-Tailed Hawk

Abert's Towhee

So this past weekend was the last weekend for collecting data in February. This month has given me quite a bit to consider about my results. 3 of my six collection days were rained out. I still got out there and identified the birds that I saw but there seemed to be a markedly smaller number of birds active on these days. I haven't had a chance to enter my data into my sheet yet so I'm curious if I am going to see a big skew to my results. If it does I'll have to figure out if I should just disregard the data, or just point out that it is an outlier when compared to the rest of the data points. I'll be planning on seeing my mentor early next week to see what his thoughts are this predicament. Luckily, Sunday was gorgeous and I saw a ton of wildlife and got some great shots after I finished my identifications.

Sunrise at Tres Rios Wetlands

February Data Collection

Neotropic Cormorant 

This week I collected data in Downtown Phoenix, Encanto Park, and Saguaro Lake. It was a bit rainy and very cold this weekend and it seems like it will be the same this weekend but overall it was a very successful trip. Saguaro lake was especially exciting this week. I had two first time sightings at the lake. As I was turning my canoe around I looked up at the top of one of the cliffs there was a beautiful adult bald eagle perched and taking in the scenery. It was really a sight to see when it took off from the cliff. The second bird that I saw was a violet-green swallow, there were quite a few flying around the reeds on the side of the lake. Their plumage is incredible, almost iridescent in the morning sun. So, overall even cold and rainy, it was an awesome week to be outside.

Sunrise at Saguaro Lake

The best little research partner

Back out in the field this week!

American White Pelican

Northern Cardinal

Time to start collection for February!  This weekend I will observing Downtown, Encanto Park, and Saguaro Lake. Hopefully this will be my last really chilly lake trip. I'm hoping that by Next month the temperature will have gone up enough for me to be able to go out on the lake in shorts and a t-shirt instead of 2 layers of pants and hoodies. This month I am going to be spending a little extra time focusing on some smaller species that I think may have been overlooked or misidentified in previous runs. I have also been noticing some new species starting to appear around my house so I should have my work cut out for me this month! I'm looking forward to coming back from my research this weekend with some more great data and maybe even a few nice shots of some new birds.

Data Input

Canada Goose

Northern Mockingbird

Gila Woodpecker

Well, every awesome day out identifying birds and hiking in some really beautiful areas in and around phoenix gets followed by some pretty tedious data input. I spent a lot of time this month updating my spreadsheet in excel to make it more user friendly. Now, once I input my findings for the month all of my calculations will populate themselves for both my Simpson Index and my Shannon-Weiner index. This will save me at least 3 hours of calculations each week so I'm really excited about that. I have attached my findings so far below as well as some more pictures that I took while out collecting data.

Simpsons Index	December	January
Encanto Park	0.831	0.870
Phoenix College	0.712	0.826
Downtown Phoenix	0.823	0.874
Saddle Mountain	0.933	0.833
Tres Rios	0.758	0.899
Saguaro Lake	0.814	0.719
Shannon Weiner
H (Shannon Index)	December	January
Encanto Park	2.155	2.371
Phoenix College	1.782	2.003
Downtown Phoenix	1.868	2.257
Saddle Mountain	1.886	1.517
Tres Rios	1.869	2.569
Saguaro Lake	2.033	1.783

Back to it!!!

Black-Crowned Night Heron

Harris Hawk

Rosy-Faced Lovebirds

 It is good to be back in classes. I am really hitting the ground running this semester in order to make sure that I have all of the data that I will need for my project. Over the winter break I recorded my first set of data for December and found Shannon-Weiner and Simpson Biodiversity Index scores for each of my six collection points. I also identified a few problems that I was having and I am working to correct them moving forward. I have been really excited to see that I am getting much better at identifying birds each time I go out. However, that brings up a question that I will have to research about whether or not I will need to account for the fact that I am a novice identifier especially for these early data collections.  I am excited to continue my research and to continue learning about all of these awesome birds that I'm finding.