Love to visit birding hot spots? Excited about birds, but don't know where to start? Looking to connect with the land in a new way? Become a Land Trust bird surveyor!

The Land Trust is in need of volunteers to conduct bird surveys year-round at various Land Trust protected lands. The goal is to monitor our local bird populations and participate in global efforts to track bird ranges, migrations, population declines, and successes.  

Bird surveyors volunteer to collect observation data as many days a year as they like. Observation data is then uploaded by surveyors to the eBird website. eBird gathers this information in the form of checklists of birds, archives it, and freely shares it. The level of physical difficulty and hiking mileage varies with each Preserve (see below for details).

Interested in becoming a bird surveyor? Follow these steps:

1. Download and review our bird surveyor job description.
2. Watch our orientation video.
3. Attend an on-site property orientation (Trainings are offered April-July, Sept-October).
4. Go birding!
5. Record your observations on eBird.

Upcoming on-site property orientations:

• Site orientations have finished for 2024. Please check back in spring 2025 for our 2025 schedule.

Bird Surveyors are needed for:

• Camp Polk Meadow Preserve, Hindman Springs (near Sisters, OR): Survey the public area of the Preerve via an easy access, mostly flat, gravel walking trail. You will find a variety of habitats in this small area, willows, springs, meadow, and wooded uplands. Mileage: 1/2 mile.
• Camp Polk Meadow Preserve, lower meadow (near Sisters, OR): Survey the lower meadow and see the effects of the Whychus Creek restoration up close! Difficult terrain through wet and dry meadows. You will be walking off-trail with uneven footing, wet ground, dense vegetation. Mileage: 1-2 miles.
• Indian Ford Meadow Preserve (near Sisters, OR): Survey the east side of the meadow and enjoy scenic mountain views, dry meadows, shrublands, and woodlands. Relatively easy terrain, gravel and native surface trails, mostly flat. Mileage: 1 mile.
• Willow Springs Preserve (near Sisters, OR): Survey creekside willow habitats, meadows, cottonwood and aspen woodlands. Moderate difficulty, off-trail, flat terrain, uneven footing. Mileage: 1-2 miles.
• Paulina Creek Preserve (near La Pine, OR): Survey meadows, forests and Paulina Creek from roads and off-trail. Easy to moderate, mostly flat terrain, uneven ground off-trail. Mileage: 1-2 miles.
• Priday Ranch (near Madras, OR): Survey creeks, alder and willow, meadows, and juniper woodlands. Roads and off-trail, moderate terrain, isolated locale, uneven ground off-trail. Mileage: 1-3 miles.

Helpful links for surveyors:

• How to use eBird.
• Local resource for learning more about birds: East Cascades Audubon Society
• Merlin Bird ID
• Wildlife safety
  
  

Questions? Contact: Jen Zalewski.