• Leah Carlson - Climate-Ready Woodlands: Tree Trackers

• Nathan Paulsen - Cornell Ebird project

• Deborah Springman - Cornell Celebrate Urban Birds project

• Len Mizutowicz - Cornell Birdnet project

Note: The Cornell Lab of Ornithology is a member-supported unit of Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, which studies birds and other wildlife. Students work in a variety of programs devoted to the Lab's mission: interpreting and conserving the Earth's biological diversity through research, education, and citizen science focused on birds. Work at the Lab is supported primarily by its 100,000 members and supporters.

Project Highlights

Climate-Ready Woodlands: Tree Trackers

• This project entailed finding and logging tree species with migration potential via iNaturalist.

• Migrating species can be cultivated or wild, and are defined per "Eco-region". For my Region 3 (Chippewa Plains and Pine Moraine-Outwash Plains), I was on the lookout for the following:

^{Pignut hickory}

^{Shagbark hickory}

^{Mockernut hickory}

^{American beech}

^{White ash}

^Honeylocust

^{Black walnut}

^{Eastern redcedar}

^Sweetgum

^{Red mulberry}

^Sycamore

^{Swamp white oak}

^{Shumard oak}

^{Post oak}

^{Black oak}

^{Eastern hemlock}

• The only two species that I identified in my searches were several swamp white oaks and one eastern red cedar. However, this project allowed me to better understand what the future of my forests might look like, and helped me to become better at tree identification in the fall.

Cornell Ebird project

Cornell Celebrate Urban Birds project

Celebrate Urban Birds” is a participatory project through the Cornell Lab of Ornithology that involves watching and identifying species within a specific group of birds in an urban setting for a period of time over multiple weeks.

• Everything you need to know to participate is online and downloadable

• This is an observation activity documenting specific birds in an urban setting (approx. 2,500 square foot area)

• Make observations for list of given focal species and regional species

My Results:

9 observation days (so far)

• 5 of 18 “focal” species visited observation area

  • Most observed focal species: House Finches, House Sparrows, and American Robins

• 4 of the 6 “regional” species visited the observation area

  • Most observed regional species: Black Capped Chickadee

• 5 other species (not on the checklists) were also observed

  • Most observed species not on checklist: Dark-eyed Juncos and Cardinals

Observed data is downloadable and could be utilized for learning, in projects, or with community and educational programs.  This would be a great participatory project for a classroom.  It doesn’t take much time and you can see and download your data, as well as data observed by others.

Cornell Lab of Ornithology uses the data to study resident and migratory birds and their interaction with green spaces.

After working on this project, I thought it would be interesting to keep track of weather and temperature to see if that changes the species visits to the observation area.

I also thought it would also be interesting to make observations year-round to see how species visits change over time.

Cornell Birdnet project

• Completed Birdnet monitoring system. 24/7 recording of bird calls which are then sent to the Cornell Birdnet system for identification/analysis.

• System built on a Raspberry Pi hobby educational computing device with two microphones. Recordings are sent to Cornell in 30 second chunks, analyzed and results retuned.

• System isolates individual bird calls. Calls are indexed, filed and reported only when probability is over 90%.

• In addition to bird identification longer term trends can be identified, such as time of activity and migration of species over the course of the year.

• To date: 74 species identified, 43,509 recordings submitted:

^{Alder Flycatcher}

^{American Coot}

^{American Crow}

^{American Goldfinch}

^{American Robin}

^{American Tree Sparrow}

^{Bald Eagle}

^{Barred Owl}

^{Belted Kingfisher}

^{Black-billed Cuckoo}

^{Black-capped Chickadee}

^{Black-crowned Night-Heron}

^{Blue Jay}

^{Cackling Goose}

^{Canada Goose}

^{Cedar Waxwing}

^{Clay-colored Sparrow}

^{Common Goldeneye}

^{Common Grackle}

^{Common Loon}

^{Common Merganser}

^{Common Nighthawk}

^{Common Raven}

^{Common Redpoll}

^{Dark-eyed Junco}

^{Downy Woodpecker}

^{Eastern Bluebird}

^{Eastern Phoebe}

^{Eurasian Collared-Dove}

^{European Starling}

^{Evening Grosbeak}

^Gadwall

^{Golden-crowned Kinglet}

^{Great Blue Heron}

^{Greater Yellowlegs}

^{Green-winged Teal}

^{Hairy Woodpecker}

^{Harris's Sparrow}

^{Hermit Thrush}

^{House Finch}

^{House Sparrow}

^Killdeer

^{Lapland Longspur}

^Mallard

^{Mourning Dove}

^{Northern Flicker}

^{Northern Pintail}

^{Pied-billed Grebe}

^{Pileated Woodpecker}

^{Pine Grosbeak}

^{Pine Siskin}

^{Red Crossbill}

^{Red-bellied Woodpecker}

^{Red-breasted Nuthatch}

^{Red-tailed Hawk}

^{Ring-billed Gull}

^{Ring-necked Pheasant}

^{Rock Pigeon}

^{Rose-breasted Grosbeak}

^{Rusty Blackbird}

^{Sandhill Crane}

^{Snow Bunting}

^{Snow Goose}

^Sora

^{Swamp Sparrow}

^{Trumpeter Swan}

^{Tundra Swan}

^{Virginia Rail}

^{White-breasted Nuthatch}

^{White-throated Sparrow}

^{Willow Flycatcher}

^{Wood Duck}

^{Yellow-bellied Sapsucker}

^{Yellow-rumped Warbler}

This capstone project is designed to help Extension Forestry develop educational resources for landowners and managers in the Arrowhead region.

Members & Projects:

1.      Sara Bright: Mixed hardwood Forest Region 4

2.      Emily Lazar: Woodlands for Pollinators

3.      Scott Fluegel: Region 4 Climate-Ready Plants

4.      Sharon Roding Bash: Reaching Family Landowners

Sponsor: Angela Gupta, Forestry Extension Professor and Educator

Reviewer: Anna Stockstad, Extension Educator-Forest Ecosystem Health

Project Highlights

Sara Bright: Climate-Ready Trees/Plants for Region 4

-Focus on mixed hardwood forest

-Flora requirements, commercial availability and wildlife use

-Considerations, benefits, & risks of introducing adaptable for a changing climate

Emily Lazar: Climate-Ready Woodlands for Pollinators: Plant lists for Duluth residents

-Did you know that Minnesota is home to thousands of insect pollinator species – including over 500 species of native bees!

-Trees and their understory plants play an essential role in pollinator lifecycle.

-Planting for future climate now can generally improve odds of the survival for Duluth’s pollinators and ecosystems.

Scott Fluegel: Climate Ready Plants

-Climate-Ready plants in region 4 benefit birds, native bees, butterfly/moths, and small mammals

-Use native plant retailers in Minnesota and can be found through Minnesota Wildflowers website

-There is a need to work with MN Master Gardeners, Foresters, Soil & Water Conservation Districts, City and County Municipalities

-MN DNR, Woodlands of Minnesota Landowner Handbook

Sharon Roding Bash: Caring For your Family Woodland

Approaches:

-Brief brochure for Earth Day events, Tree planting events, Farmers markets, nurseries, local County Extensions, Forestry, Soil & Water offices, community centers, real estate offices

-Webpage with information on Climate-Ready Trees & Plants

-MN Master Naturalist volunteers to manage distribution at events

Messages/Goals:

-Draw reader in through anchor in Landowner’s personal enthusiasm and experience; shared love of north woods; shared passion for this unique place.

-Need to advance the aims of climate ready woodlands in this era of change.

-Call to work together in stewardship of an ancient gift, legacy for future generations.

-Introduction to available supports, local professionals.

-Introduction to excellent educational resources.