[mou] BGBY MN spring results

[Frank Berdan]

About two dozen Minnesotans are doing a Big Green Big Year in 2008.  They are ticking off good numbers of species while birding more often in ecologically conscious ways. 

Participants usually choose walking or bicycling, although one of us has a transit-assisted list.  Although the sample size is small and data a bit spotty, we found that in the first five months of the year: 

* Feeder-watching and looking up from yard chores nets an average of 44 species through 5/31, about 25% of our MN lists sofar this year.
* Walking from home doubles the number of species seen, 85.
* Biking produces another 14% more species, 109.

In other words, we are getting about two-thirds of our species with zero carbon footprint.  We’ve kicked around how to increase those percentages, mostly by identifying the most productive sites nearby.  MOU-net, of course, remains invaluable.  

The most productive destinations near our home-base cities: Silver Lake, Mesabi Bike Trail, and Trout Lake on the Iron Range; Minnehaha Creek and Crosby Lake in the Metro; and the usual spots in/near Duluth plus the woods around home.

How far can one travel in a BGBY day?  We found that walkers typically cover about three miles.  The range for bikers averages about seven miles out and then back, coincidentally the same as the Christmas bird count circles.  Might be a game in this: annual species sighted in one’s circle. 

The environmental benefits are obvious.  The health aspect: one walking couple projects 1000 miles/year.  Think heart toning and calories burning -- meaning weight control, longevity and more years of active birding.  

Hopefully, more of us will give BGBY a try over the warm summer months, when we will be out and about anyway.  For details: http://www.sparroworks.ca/bigby.html

In the March/April 2007 issue of Minnesota Birding, Chet Meyers and Craig Mandel compiled and published seven splendid trips that would produce about 250 species in a typical Minnesota year.  In answer to the inevitable question “How shall we bird the rest of the year with gas near $4.00?”  BGBY is one answer.

Thanks to the eight MOU members who forwarded their interim results and experiences, which formed the basis of this compilation: Anne Bier, Shawn Conrad, Diana Doyle, Jan Green, Julian Sellers, Dan & Sandy Thimgan, and Richard Wood.

Good birding!

Frank Berdan, self-appointed MN BGBY compiler & publicist