Thank you for your interest in the Great Lakes Marsh Monitoring Program.
Is this program the correct choice for you at this time? The Great Lakes Marsh Monitoring Program is designed for people within the Great Lakes who are ready to conduct field work in marshes. Techniques can be learned, so can frog call identification but, to conduct the bird surveys you would be able to identify the birds commonly found in marshes in your area. If you feel you are not ready to survey birds (yet) please register to survey frogs only. If you would like to gain more skill please consider joining the MarshWatch - Great Lakes edition (MarshWatch webpage; MarshWatch- Great Lakes ed. registration). This learning program is designed to help you learn how to identify birds and frogs and how to use the NatureCounts app (https://birdscanada-org.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_CZW03D5kQ8G3bB7NWYQ7-w#/registration). Note that the Great Lakes Marsh Monitoring Program will start to use the NatureCounts app in 2027/2028.
By completing this form you will be added to the queue for route assignment and it will allow us to quickly and efficiently contact you during the season. It is very important that you provide both your email and a snail mail address that functions at the beginning of March (we mail materials at the end of February).
You will see a field that shows your progress - it is completed by us and ense.ures we share all appropriate files with you. Feel free to check back in anytime and see your progress, you can access the content via the footer in any related emails that you receive.
To learn more about Marsh Monitoring please review the website at https://www.birdscanada.org/gl_mmp as well as the Great Lakes Marsh Monitor Position Description which is available on line and will be included with your first email from us. These two documents will give you a sound idea what the program is about and help you decide if this volunteer opportunity is right for you.
To learn more about available survey routes visit https://tinyurl.com/glmmpmap (manual key in the link).
Green dots are completely assigned. Red dots are available for birds and amphibian surveyors. Purple/Pink dots are is available for birds only. Blue dots are available for amphibians only. Larger icons refer to priority sites.
Click on the dots for additional details. If you are in an area where no routes are located there will be two reasons 1) A lack of marshes or 2) no one has set up a route yet. In these areas, you can establish a route on any marsh that is available. For more information on establishing a new route just check out the Route Establishment Factsheet that is included in the General Email you have/will receive.
You will also see a couple fields on the survey types that you can take on (birds, frogs, both - we ask all to complete simple habitat forms). As well as fields that inform us of your confidence and skill levels. Be honest with yourself and us, knowing what you can and cannot confidently do will help ensure you can enjoy the program. We do provide learning materials but the bird identification needs are not for novices (frogs anyone can take on).
Is this program the correct choice for you at this time? The Great Lakes Marsh Monitoring Program is designed for people within the Great Lakes who are ready to conduct field work in marshes. Techniques can be learned, so can frog call identification but, to conduct the bird surveys you would be able to identify the birds commonly found in marshes in your area. If you feel you are not ready to survey birds (yet) please register to survey frogs only. If you would like to gain more skill please consider joining the MarshWatch - Great Lakes edition (MarshWatch webpage; MarshWatch- Great Lakes ed. registration). This learning program is designed to help you learn how to identify birds and frogs and how to use the NatureCounts app (https://birdscanada-org.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_CZW03D5kQ8G3bB7NWYQ7-w#/registration). Note that the Great Lakes Marsh Monitoring Program will start to use the NatureCounts app in 2027/2028.
By completing this form you will be added to the queue for route assignment and it will allow us to quickly and efficiently contact you during the season. It is very important that you provide both your email and a snail mail address that functions at the beginning of March (we mail materials at the end of February).
You will see a field that shows your progress - it is completed by us and ense.ures we share all appropriate files with you. Feel free to check back in anytime and see your progress, you can access the content via the footer in any related emails that you receive.
To learn more about Marsh Monitoring please review the website at https://www.birdscanada.org/gl_mmp as well as the Great Lakes Marsh Monitor Position Description which is available on line and will be included with your first email from us. These two documents will give you a sound idea what the program is about and help you decide if this volunteer opportunity is right for you.
To learn more about available survey routes visit https://tinyurl.com/glmmpmap (manual key in the link).
Green dots are completely assigned. Red dots are available for birds and amphibian surveyors. Purple/Pink dots are is available for birds only. Blue dots are available for amphibians only. Larger icons refer to priority sites.
Click on the dots for additional details. If you are in an area where no routes are located there will be two reasons 1) A lack of marshes or 2) no one has set up a route yet. In these areas, you can establish a route on any marsh that is available. For more information on establishing a new route just check out the Route Establishment Factsheet that is included in the General Email you have/will receive.
You will also see a couple fields on the survey types that you can take on (birds, frogs, both - we ask all to complete simple habitat forms). As well as fields that inform us of your confidence and skill levels. Be honest with yourself and us, knowing what you can and cannot confidently do will help ensure you can enjoy the program. We do provide learning materials but the bird identification needs are not for novices (frogs anyone can take on).
For greater support the MarshWatch (MarshWatch webpage; MarshWatch- Great Lakes ed. registration)program will begin in March of 2026. It will help you with id skills and you can test your id and data submission skills on the NatureCounts app (which the Great Lakes MMP will begin to use in 2027/2028). For advanced learning… the Prairie edition is longer, more detailed and has many of the same species. Frankly, these programs in conjunction to the MMP training CD and field practice will get you ready for bird id in no time.
Thanks for your interest in the program, I hope you can join us.
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