Western Maryland RC&D is proud to partner with the Maryland Department of Natural Resource’s Wildlife & Heritage Service in our ongoing support of the Maryland Bird Conservation Partnership (MBCP). WMRC&D’s own Chris Eberly serves as the MBCP Executive Director. MBCP was launched in 2014 to build the foundation of a collaborative, sustained effort to conserve Maryland birds and their habitat. Modeled after the North American Bird Conservation Initiative, bird conservation initiatives are coalitions of government agencies, nonprofits, and citizen stakeholders that combine efforts to ensure the long-term health of native bird populations.
2019 was another highly productive year for the MBCP, as the partnership successfully engaged with new partners, recruited volunteers, developed new programs, and took action to support Maryland birds and their habitat through several existing projects and work groups.
Read the full 2019 MBCP Director Year-end Update Here!
Building the Partnership, Engaging Partners, and Recruiting Volunteers
• Presentations: MBCP gave 14 presentations, reaching 927 people, adding at least 35 new volunteers through these presentations.
• MBCP Facebook: 1410 followers, a 43% increase from 2018.
• eNews subscribers: 215, a 23% increase from 2018. The reach of our eNews is above 10,000 thanks to posts and reposts on many Facebook pages.
• Media interviews: 2 radio and 1 TV interview.
• The first-ever Maryland Bird Conservation Symposium was held in January. The event drew more than 115 participants and speakers. There were 11 speakers, which included three YMOS youth. Mike Parr, President of American Bird Conservancy, provided the keynote address. Symposium proceeds were used to create the Maryland Avian Research & Conservation Fund for Youth.
• The Maryland Avian Research & Conservation (MARC) Fund for Youth was created from proceeds of the symposium (see above). The Fund is designed to mentor youth to learn how to develop a project scope of work, submit a grant proposal, conduct their project, and write a project summary report. Projects can be associated with avian research, conservation, or community engagement and must include at least one of the 143 Species of Greatest Conservation Need identified in the Maryland State Wildlife Action Plan. A project may take place anywhere geographically where the species spends time in its annual cycle. Grants of up to $500 are initially being considered, but this may change as proposals start to come in.
• Frontiers in Ornithology: A Symposium for Youth took place in September. MBCP is a co-founder of this symposium, which is an event for youth ages 13-22 and their mentors. The primary mission of this event is to focus on ornithology, conservation science and related academic pursuits. The two youth keynote speakers were YMOS youth – Claire Wayner and Patrick Newcombe. Proceeds from the event went into the Bill Stewart Frontiers Fund, named for co-founder Bill Stewart who passed away less than two months after the event.
Working Groups
• Research & Monitoring
o Attended bi-weekly meetings of the Breeding Bird Atlas Committee. More work will be done in 2020 on collecting data for nocturnal, secretive, and other priority species that MBCP will be helping to lead.
o Assisted Audubon Maryland-DC again with Important Bird Area monitoring.
o Responded to a request by the Neighbors of Mayo Peninsula Steering Committee to conduct an assessment of birds in a 50-acre forest tract, which was completed on June 9th.
• Sustainability
o This group had its initial meeting in December 2018 and was active in the first half of 2019 helping to develop and review the application criteria for Bird City Maryland.
• Bird City Maryland
o This new program was launched early in the year. A website (birdcitymaryland.org) was created. La Plata, MD became MBCP’s first Bird City in December.
• Forest Habitat
o Worked on developing “Restoring and Enhancing Maryland’s Forests to Benefit Forest Interior Dwelling Species and Other Forest Species.” This is a scope of work to be used in submitting proposals for funding forest habitat work in 2020.
• Communications and Outreach
o Web site, newsletter, Facebook, press releases, and other materials
• Education
o This group is primarily focused on YMOS activities, including the Maryland Bird Conservation Symposium and the MARC Fund for Youth.
• Funding
o Cecil County government granted $4,700 to conduct avian surveys on 3 county-owned parcels as part of the Cecil County Green Infrastructure Plan.
o Cove Point Natural Heritage Trust granted $13,600 for IBA monitoring.
Citizen Science / Volunteer projects
• Maryland-DC Breeding Bird Atlas III
o As part of the Atlas Steering Committee, MBCP participated in the development of atlas protocols and targeted monitoring for SGCN and other priority species.
• Bald Eagle Nest Monitoring Program
o MBCP initiated Epicollect as a new data entry method for 2018-2019 nesting season in addition to the web-based JotForm.
o Worked to implement NestStory for the 2019-2020 nesting season. At the end of the season MBCP will switch off JotForm and Epicollect data entry methods and use NestStory exclusively starting with the 2020-2021 nesting season.
• Maryland Farmland Raptor Program and Chimney Swift Conservation Program
o MBCP launched these two new citizen science programs this year addressing three Species of Greatest Conservation Need. The Farmland Raptor program focuses on American Kestrels and Barn Owls. The program’s focus is on increasing nesting opportunities for these species, with an emphasis on protecting nesting structures and creating nest boxes (Farmland Raptors) and Chimney Swift nest towers. The programs are designed to have MOS and Audubon chapters take the lead in their counties to identify locations and raise funding for nesting structures, recruit volunteers to install and monitor nests, and enter data into a state-wide repository.
For more information, visit https://marylandbirds.org/farmland-raptor-program, https://marylandbirds.org/chimney-swifts
• IBA Monitoring
o Through Cove Point funding, MBCP compiled results from 2018 sites and wrote reports for Idylwild, South River Greenway, and Chapman State Park. A CCC intern for Audubon MD-DC created maps for the reports.
• Coordination of State and National citizen science monitoring programs
o Nightjar Survey Network (Center for Conservation Biology)
o Sandhill Crane Fall Survey (USFWS)
o Summer Wild Turkey Survey (MD DNR)
Other Partnership Action
• MBCP became a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization in order to increase opportunities for funding from grants and foundations.
• MBCP Steering Committee transitioned to the MBCP Science Advisory Council. The Council will continue to provide the direction for research and conservation priorities.
• A Board of Directors was formed to oversee the organization’s governance, fiduciary and legal responsibilities. The Chair of the Science Advisory Council is a designated Board position.