Bird Club Also Plans Family Walk
Rockbridge Bird Cub has invited University of Virginia professor Victor Laubach to give a talk on birding software applications and demonstrate how two of the more popular apps – eBird and Merlin – can “enhance your birding experience.”
The interactive program is scheduled for next Tuesday, April 8, in the Piovanno Room at Rockbridge Regional Library starting at 6:45 pm with a social gathering followed by the presentation at 7. All Bird Club-sponsored programs are free and open to the public.
Laubach will share his experience using eBird and Merlin, free apps created by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. He’ll show how he uses eBird to record and manage his own bird sightings, then demonstrate how the Merlin app uses eBird data to help identify birds, especially by their songs and calls.
Rather than show slides, Laubach will use live, online interaction to show how to use eBird and Merlin in the field on a mobile device. The presentation is meant to be more of an introductory “workshop” on the basics of both of these popular birding apps.
Laubach is a professor of surgery at the University of Virginia School of Medicine, where he runs a lab that studies lung transplantation. He is currently vice president of the Augusta Bird Club and coordinator of the Rockfish Gap Hawk Watch in Afton.
An avid birder, Laubach has been using the eBird and Merlin apps since they were introduced by the Cornell Lab in 2002 and 2014, respectively. He currently has 5,807 eBird checklists and 711 species sightings worldwide, including 4,275 checklists and 267 species sightings in Augusta County alone.
Birding at Boxerwood Rockbridge Bird Club members also invite area residents and families to join them for “Birding at Boxerwood” on Saturday, April 12.
Boxerwood walks are regularly scheduled on the second Saturday of each month and led by Bird Club members. This particular Saturday program is a double-header: the regular walk will begin at 8 a.m., followed by a special guided walk for families that begins at 9.
In early spring, birds are pairing up, sporting their breeding plumage, and filling the woods and fields with birdsong. Participants are likely to see and hear many of the migrant species and year-round birds that breed in Rockbridge, including Eastern Bluebirds, Tree Swallows, Blue-gray Gnatcatchers, and Towhees.
Both walks begin and end in the parking lot of the nature center (963 Ross Road), and run approximately two hours. Participants should bring their own binoculars, water and snacks, and wear sturdy footwear. Binoculars will be available for the family walk.
Walks are cancelled for rain. For more information, visit the Rockbridge Bird Club on Facebook or contact Bonnie Bernstein at (540) 460-9147 or bonnie.bernstein@gmail. com.
