The next monitoring session will be on Saturday, May 19th at Sabino Canyon and Monday, May 21st at Florida Canyon.  The first session on Mt. Lemmon will be on Sunday, May 20th

Get close-up views of hummingbirds while assisting in a regional biodiversity study of hummingbirds in the USA, Canada and Mexico. 2011 was the 10th year of the Hummingbird Monitoring Network’s multi-year investigation of the distribution, migration and diversity of hummingbirds. Information collected during the study will be used to assist in the preservation and protection of hummingbirds.

We always need trapping, recording and feeder assistance at monitoring stations.  If you would like to sign up to help out on one of the dates listed on Page Two or Three (see link at top of Page One) send an email to Elissa Fazio at esquared@qwestoffice.net and I will get back to you.  The 2012 schedules will be posted on Page Two and Three in early 2012.  You should have an interesting time learning a bit more about hummingbirds, but you must realize that:

1. This is a scientific research program with nearly 30 associated sites in AZ, CO, CA, UT, British Columbia and Mexico ( see http://hummonnet.org ),

2. 2.The positions for volunteers on monitoring dates are:
   

    a) Recorder - which requires legible handwriting and the ability to transcribe spoken data accurately,

    b) Trapper - which requires good hand-eye coordination to know when to drop the trap curtain and the manual dexterity to remove the bird from the trap and place it in a mesh bag without harming it or allowing it to escape,

1. c) Feeder/releaser - on busy days, this person feeds each bird and releases it after it has been processed, which again, requires manual dexterity and bird handling confidence.
   

2. You will be given a brief training at the start of the session.
   

3. Each session goes from sunrise for 5 hours with setup and takedown time added to the start and finish.

We also need volunteers to help with feeder maintenance between March and October at the Sabino Canyon and the Florida Canyon sites. The Sabino site is about a 20 minute walk from the Visitor Center parking lot. You will be given a set of feeders and instructions. You can drive to the Florida Canyon site - feeders kept at the site.  If you’re available twice a month, please contact me at: esquared@qwestoffice.net.

Species observed regularly at the Sabino Canyon site include Broad Billed, Black Chinned, Anna’s, and Costa’s and during migration, Rufous.  Species observed at the Mt. Lemmon site are Broad Tail, Magnificent and during migration, Rufous and Calliope.  Species observed at the Florida Canyon site include are undetermined since it’s new this season but most likely are Broad Billed, Black Chinned, Magnificent with Rufous and Broad Tailed during migration.