goals of kelt's bird monitoring program

Short-term Goals

• Begin or build upon species lists for all of KELT's public preserves

• Match volunteers with all of KELT's public preserves

• Implement eBird as the primary tool for recording KELT bird monitoring data

Long-term Goals

• Incorporate birds into KELT management palns

• Build species lists for new land protection projects prior to KELT acquisition or protection

• Work with landowners of properties protected by conservation easements (including agricultural easements) to monitor bird activity and adopt management practices that benefit bird species present on the properties.

impact of your observations

Within the Kennebec Estuary

Your observations will help KELT and partner organizations to continue learning about where birds are living and nesting, as well as the habitats and spaces that are important for migrating bird species. For KELT, this means providing valuable information so that we can make both land protection and management decisions that protect and benefit bird species and other wildlife.

Beyond the Kennebec Estuary

KELT aspires to consider all habitats, animals, and plants when evaluating how a property should be used and the on-going impact of those decisions. In observing birds, one becomes keenly attuned to the surrounding environment and volunteers can report all of these observations, which might include rare and threatened plant or animal species, as well as wildlife activity that might have otherwise been overlooked.

Through partnerships with other conservation organizations in the Midcoast and statewide, your observations contribute to the broader conservation landscape and help all of us understand which lands are now and will be important for plants and animals in the face of climate change, development, and other evolving threats to our natural world.