Blockbusting.
No, I am not referring to real estate measures that affect communities. I am
describing Breeding Bird Atlas activities where blockbusting refers to efforts
to fill in the bird list for an area that deserves additional attention. The
goal is to raise the species and breeding confirmation list to better levels.
To achieve this goal, several teams of birders get together, define birding
routes in an area called a “block” (which is 1/6th of a topographic map quad or
about 9 square miles) and then try to tally the most bird species and breeding
evidence for these in a day’s effort.
You see, it all started about a week ago. OK, maybe it really started back at
the end of May, at least for me. That is about when I started getting serious
in contributing to Virginia’s Atlas. I have plugged along and soon realized
that many birders I knew were unfamiliar with the Atlas activities. So…why not
try to gather a few birders to improve on a block? (You can see the status of
all of Virginia’s blocks using E-bird’s Virginia Breeding Bird Atlas portal.
Then, click on Explore data. To check on a county, just enter the county name
and a summary sheet will appear, click on blocks and you can see the block
summary. You can find where the blocks are located using VABBA2 Block Explorer
tool: click the Maps and Block sign-up button on the Atlas Home page).
So, I contacted a few people, who contacted a few more and…11 people showed
up last Sunday morning at the Aden store in Nokesville. (Fleetwood and Aden
Rds) Our goal was to blockbust the block known as Nokesville SE. We looked
over the map, divided the block into 3 areas, and then went out and atlased!
That means, not just hearing or seeing a bird, but trying to determine if it
is a breeder. (The Atlas portal has a handbook with a wealth of information;
atlasing is not just birding but observing bird behavior.)
