How to establish survey points

In each forest patch, select one or more survey points where
you will conduct the BFL survey protocol. When selecting survey points, please observe the following criteria:

• Try to pick a survey point that is representative of the habitat in your entire study site. We realize this may not be possible at sites with varied vegetation.
• Each survey point must be within the forest patch but can be any distance from the edge of the forest.
• Points must be at least 1,000 feet (300 meters) apart for most species and 3,000 feet (900 meters) apart for any of the hawks. This reduces the chance of counting the same birds at more than one point.
• Try to spread your survey points over several forest patches rather than putting all of them in the same patch.

If you have selected survey points from maps or aerial photographs, you will need to locate your survey points in the field by using a map and compass. You may need to pace off distances in the field to make sure that your points are not too close together. See Appendix A for information on measuring your pace. Global Positioning System (GPS) equipment, if available, may also help you locate your survey points in the field. Once you have located your points, mark them by tying flagging tape (brightly colored plastic ribbon, available in hardware stores) to an easily visible tree trunk or branch.

For each of the survey points within a forest patch, create a unique six-character (or shorter) name (called the “Survey point ID”). Use this name on your Field Form and on the Web-based data form. If you participated in previous years, use the same names again this year. This will help us match your survey points with past data.