Desmond O'Donovan Capstone

           For my Capstone I conducted a survey of birds in the two Wissahickon Valley Meadows (Houston and Andorra), during the fall and spring migrations. I posted the survey results on a blog so that people could see what birds were passing through the meadows. This served as scientific data, and a reference for bird enthusiasts. I went to the two meadows on a weekly basis to count individual birds. I recorded their specific locations in the meadow, as well age, sex and the size of their flocks. At the end of each migration, I created spreadsheets accounting for each species, and each individual bird seen. This data showed how common each species was, and when they were seen. I learned about what types of birds pass through the area, and how many. I also learned more about birding and surveying. I learned about diversifying my surveys, going in different types of weather and different times of day to get a broader range of data. I learned about the birds themselves, their habits and behaviors, as well as how to better identify them. I learned how to distinguish the sexes and ages of certain species. I hope that this data can benefit the Wissahickon, and the people that bird there.