Calling all birders and bird enthusiasts! For those of you who have visited some of our parks around Baltimore County, you’ll notice that birds are fairly constant throughout. Whether you see them flitting in and out of nests or calling from high above, they’re everywhere. NeighborSpace has been keen to document the different types of birds that visit our sites year around in order to cater future restoration efforts to these wonderful creatures. By understanding the diverse avian communities at our parks, we can better select trees, shrubs, and other plants that will directly benefit our winged friends and encourage them to return year after year.

In order to tackle the undertaking of cataloging all bird species at our sites around the county, we have instituted a volunteer-based community science program. Volunteers chose a site to ‘monitor’ once a month, recording all species that they see or hear. This has revealed a plethora of fascinating bird species, such as Black Vultures, Red-shouldered Hawks, Pileated Woodpeckers, Northern Mockingbirds, Winter Wrens, Eastern Wood Pewee’s, Ruby-crowned Kinglets, Northern Waterthrushes, and much, much more!

NeighborSpace is currently looking for more volunteers eager to take ownership of one of our parks for at least a three month period with the express purpose of cataloging the bird species there. We are currently in the process of scheduling both virtual and in-person trainings for anyone interested in getting involved. Reach out to Amanda Glassco at amanda@neighborspacebaltimorecounty.org for more information.

We would like to thank bird monitors Kelly and Mike Strzelecki and Anna Payne for their hard work recording bird species at our parks! Their observations have already significantly enriched NeighborSpace’s understanding of the animals that inhabit its preserves.