It is 6:30 a.m., and about 30 bird enthusiasts have flocked to a parking lot on the Bureau of Land Management’s 730-acre Campbell Tract in Anchorage, Alaska. Located in the heart of the city, 80,000 visitors each year visit the forested BLM administrative site for outdoor education and recreation. On this tranquil spring morning, however, our group is alone on the trails.
 
Each Thursday morning in May, BLM-Alaska biologist Bruce Seppi, who works on the Campbell Tract, gives guided bird walks to educate the public about birds that migrate from many parts of the world to the Tract. “Over the weeks you realize that you have watched the migration unfold,” Seppi said. Warm clothing and curiosity about songbirds are all anyone needs to enjoy these weekly walks, but a good pair of binoculars will aid with identifying birds.

Seppi leads our group onto the trail in the early morning chill before distant traffic noise ramps up. Seppi explains how he takes bird surveys, what he listens for and how to identify birds by either sight or sound. “Statistically, if you listen for two minutes you’ll hear whatever is in the area,” Seppi says. He adds that soon, “you can hear the city start to wake up.” We move farther down the trail into the quiet birch and spruce forest.

The easy-to-access trails wind along Campbell Creek where salmon make their spring spawning runs. This section of the trail is wheelchair accessible. Although not paved, the trail is hard soil and gravel and blanketed with last year’s birch leaves, which soften our footfall.

The group suddenly stops to listen — a varied thrush’s melancholy song hangs in the still morning air. A yellow-rumped warbler flits across the trail in front of us. Everyone grabs binoculars in hopes of seeing it perch in the newly leafed birch trees, but it blends into the bright spring green.

Without the benefit of seeing these elusive migrants, Seppi emphasizes we have to rely on the bird’s call to identify it. This can be problematic, especially when similar species sound similar. Even within a species itself, differences can exist.

Seppi explains last year’s fledglings, now breeding adults, are hearing breeding calls for the first time and incorporating these new notes into their songs. This, he says, causes variations within the same species. Regional differences in songs within the same species also occur, varying with migration patterns.  These tiny songbirds weigh mere ounces and fly 4,000 to 6,000 miles from as far away as South America to raise their young in the forest at Campbell Tract. Once the young have fledged, they leave. But today they are arriving, and we all strain to identify the varied bird calls.

To help him identify bird songs, years ago Seppi used bird-song recordings on cassette tapes that would either break or stretch from forwarding or rewinding. He later used a CD of bird songs and a player that he had to toggle through when trying to find a specific bird song. But it was not easy to use for fieldwork. Now he uses an MP3 player that has bird songs on it. It is convenient to use with its click-wheel and a screen to read the bird names. Plus it is small and portable, which makes it a good tool for field identification.

“The MP3 player won’t replace knowledge of bird songs,” Seppi says, “but it’s a good backup and it’s mobile. Plus the digital sound is good. You have it in hand and it’s quick to manipulate and hear it (the recording).” Even though Seppi is a veteran at identifying birds, he says it is easy to get rusty over the winter and the MP3 player helps his recall. Today, however, Seppi never needs to turn it on. His recall is clear, and members of the group begin to call out on their own as they learn to identify the birds.

All too soon, the two-hour walk is over.  As we rush off to work, we now know we can identify the birds on our own when we return to the BLM-Alaska’s Campbell Tract. Twelve miles of trails are waiting for us in Anchorage’s backyard.

Related Link: http://www.blm.gov/ak/st/en/prog/sciencecenter/campbell_tract_homepage.html