A DAY in the LIFE of a SHOREBIRD SURVEY VOLUNTEER

Before the Big Day: You’ll be connected with your team over email and will be assigned a Survey Area and Team Lead. At this point, you’ll coordinate specific details with your survey team — meetup time (sunrise!), where you’re meeting, if you’ll be carpooling, role assignments, etc. This should all be confirmed by the group ahead of the survey so that everyone has time to prepare.

5:45am, Big Day: You rise before the sun, and you grab the gear that you need for a safe, fun, and successful shorebird survey.

• What you’re wearing: Comfortable layers, sunglasses and a hat for sun protection, muck boots or sneakers you don’t mind getting muddy (if you’re on a walking survey)

• In your pack: plenty of water, snacks, lunch, binoculars and/or spotting scope, a camera if you’ve got one, sunscreen, a hat, bug spray/head net, your survey packet (if you’re a Team Lead), pens/pencils, extra socks (just in case!)

6:00am: You meet your survey team at the predetermined carpool spot (the Sageland office, the lot outside of the Antelope Island toll, the Smith’s grocery… you get the idea!) and hit the road to arrive at your Survey Area around sunrise time (roughly 6:30am on April 25, 2026).

6:30am: When you arrive at the Survey Area, you’ll review the Pre-survey Checklist at the top of your Data Form, confirming that everyone has completed the virtual training, reviewed the materials (Survey Plan, Data Form, & Maps), and done an on-site review of safety precautions. Once this is complete, you’ll gather your gear and head out on your survey route as shown on your paper maps and in the ArcGIS FieldMaps app.

How you survey will be determined by your survey area’s route type: On Foot or by Vehicle.

• If your route is On Foot, you’ll be walking and counting shorebirds & White-faced Ibis within your survey area as you go.

• If your route is by Vehicle, you’ll be driving in one vehicle with your team, making frequent stops to either count birds out the window or to get out and walk a short distance to count birds in your survey area.

7am-3pm: As you survey, everyone will work together to count birds, navigate, and complete the Data Form (recording Survey Area/Surveyor details and tallying bird counts). You can designate roles or switch throughout your survey, but the Team Lead is responsible for making sure ALL fields in the Data Form have been completed and submitting the form.

Depending on the length of your route and amount of birds, it could take between 2-8 hours to complete your survey. It’s important to pack enough water and snacks to stay fueled throughout the day and to give yourself plenty of time so that you don’t have to rush through your survey.

That said, to avoid heat exhaustion and heat glare that could impact visibility, we encourage survey teams to aim to finish their surveys by noon. Getting an early start around sunrise helps!

3pm: When you’ve completed your survey route and counted all shorebirds & White-faced Ibis in your Survey Area, you’ll complete the Post-survey Checklist on the bottom of your Data Form. The Team Lead is responsible for first taking pictures of each page of the Data Form and emailing them immediately to Emm Clark, as well as mailing hard copies of the Data Form & sketched-in Maps back to the Sageland office following the survey.

After the Big Day: Congrats! You completed a Shorebird Survey! You’ll receive email updates from our team as we finalize our preliminary numbers and share additional opportunities to get involved. Thank you!