Study of shore bird population will help scientists protect wildlife against oil spills
By Eliav Appelbaum eliav@theacorn.com

On a gorgeous Wednesday afternoon at Ormond Beach in Oxnard, Chris Kahler is out counting shorebirds.

He's not doing it just for fun. Kahler is part of a research project that keeps track of shorebird populations at 14 Ventura County beaches. The project, which began in July 2007 and will be complete in 2010, is conducted by the U.S. Department of the Interior's Minerals Management Service and students from California State University Channel Islands.

Near the end of the survey, CSUCI and Minerals Management Service (MMS) hope to gain enough information about the shorebirds in case of an oil spill or other disaster.

Kahler, a spring graduate of Channel Island's environmental science and resource management major, works with current CSUCI student Garrick Thomsen on the shorebirds project.

Kahler, 25, has reaped many benefits from being involved in the study.

"I've noticed that even in the city I can identify birds," Kahler said. "It's nice to know another name for a certain bird other than just 'bird.'"

Once a month, Kahler and Thomsen each go to seven beaches, from Leo Carillo in the south to La Conchita in the north, and count the shorebirds in a transect, a straight line covering a certain distance. They also take note of the weather and how many people or dogs off leashes are around.

A diverse group of birds which includes sandpipers and plovers, shorebirds primarily feed in a narrow stretch of beach. Most shorebirds migrate twice a year, and many use Ventura County beaches as a resting spot to refuel. According to Thomsen, shorebirds come back to Ormond Beach and other spots on the Ventura coastline because of the food.

"It doesn't look like it from here, but under our feet there are copious amounts of crabs, worms and invertebrates for shorebirds to replenish their fatty reserves," Thomsen said.

The students keep tabs on all shorebirds but are primarily concerned with the six most common species: sanderling, willet, marbled godwit, blackbellied plover, snowy plover and whimbrel. The snowy plover is a threatened species on the endangered species' list, but Thomsen said he saw 54 of them at Surfer's Knoll at Ventura Harbor last Tuesday.

Snowy plovers are unusual because their nests blend in the sand, which means they can be more easily disturbed by dogs or people.

Like Kahler, Thomsen, 25, didn't study or show an interest in birds until Don Rodriguez, an associate professor of environmental science and resource management at Cal State Channel Islands, approached him about working on the project.

"I've really taken to it," Thomsen said. "It's had a snowball effect."

The shorebirds project replicates a similar one MMS ran by itself from 1994-97.

"There's a narrow range of habitat that shorebirds depend on," said Greg Sanders, a biologist for MMS who spent 18 years working with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Sanders, who works out of Camarillo, oversees the study and will evaluate the students' reports. "It's important to get more information on shorebirds, especially in the case of an oil spill, because these beaches, like Ormond, are important to these birds."

Sanders, who has worked with MMS for two years, was pleased to see students get involved in the study of shorebirds.

"I'm excited about the project and getting people involved and getting good baseline data. It's really important to get students out here," he said. "These students are getting more enthusiastic about it. They weren't into birds before. Now they're becoming avid birders."