Nest Watch at The Bear Trace at Harrison Bay

I'm an avid reader of Superintendent blogs and enjoy the first hand accounts of all sorts of golf course happenings from around the world. This morning I came upon a post by Paul L. Carter,
Certified Golf Course Superintendent at The Bear Trace at Harrison Bay. Paul has a number of very interesting post's that Turfhugger readers would enjoy including:

• Native Grass Area Renovation
• Renovation of Native Planting Bed
• Environmental Outreach and Education
• The Next Generation (incredible photos!)
• GCSAA/Golf Digest announce 2010 Environmental Leaders in Golf Awards
• Case Study for GCSAA's Environmental Institute for Golf

Since the Cornell Lab of Ornithology Nest Watch has been on my long list of "Blog Post To Do's" for some time, I figured I'd ask Paul permission to repost his entry here on Turfhugger. Be sure to stop by his blog, from Paul's recent post "Cornell Lab of Ornithology Nest Watch"...

I wanted to pass along some information about a great organization and website that anyone interested in keeping track of bird activity on their golf course, school campus, business, or in their backyard might want to take a look at. The Cornell Lab of Ornithology has put together a great program called Nest Watch. 

Nest Watch is a program for entering and tracking the success of birding that can be monitored and compared to other areas of the world. The website is loaded with information regarding birds and thier habits and habitats. The website has easy to follow instructions on setting up your nesting sites and once they are set up entering the information is even easier. 

 Using the information entered for your location you can easily track the number of eggs laid, number of chicks hatched, and the ultimate goal, the number of birds fledged.

The website gives valuable information about how to properly monitor nesting sites, links to Nest Cams, and also allows you to track nesting sites of other species by clicking on the Interactive Nest Watch Maps.

Diane Johnstone and Angie Medley monitoring a nestbox 

I am very lucky to have a group of volunteers from the Friends of Harrison Bay State Park who have for years given of their time to monitor our 44 blue bird nesting boxes on our golf course. Without the support of these great volunteers, our successful nesting project at The Bear Trace at Harrison Bay would not be possible.