My wife and I volunteer for the blue bird count effort at a local level. We visit a local winery that was good enough to allow 21 nesting boxes amongst the vines. An electric fence intended to keep the raccoons off the vines does double duty protecting the boxes. We stroll around for about an hour checking each box, cleaning out if necessary and writing down results so their numbers can be maintained. It's relaxing and gets us out of the house early on weekends. If non-native birds (primarily house finches) have a nest started we remove it. If barn swallows have started a nest, we leave them be as they are native to our area. Where the data goes, and how it affects the birds is unknown to me. bbrd.jpg
"Wars are, of course, as a rule to be avoided; but they are far better than certain kinds of peace." - T.R.