Learn about local wildlife and habitats through monitoring.
Stream Team offers five different monitoring opportunities:
- benthic macroinvertebrates (also referred to as stream bugs)
- purple martin nest boxes at East Bay
- amphibian egg mass surveys
- identify and map invasive plants
- shorebird population surveys
The information collected is useful to the Cities and the County, as well as other local resource managers to track changes in water quality and watershed health over time.
No experience is necessary. Stream Team provides all the training and materials you will need. For benthic macroinvertebrates collection and amphibian egg masses surveys, staff accompanies volunteers. For purple martin, invasive plants and shorebird surveys, volunteers do the surveys on their own after being trained.
The chart below gives an overview of when each type of
monitoring takes place, how many hours for training are required
and how many hours are involved in the actual monitoring. Read
on to find out more information and who to contact to register
for training.
| Started | What do they do? | Volunteer Commitment | When is the training? | Training hours | |
| Macro-Monitoring | 1998 | Assist with collection of “stream bugs” (benthic macroinvertebrates) | Monitoring takes 2-4+ hrs depending on stream | Late June –early July | 2.5 hrs |
| Purple Martin Monitoring | 2001 | Observe and record purple martin behavior at East Bay bird boxes | 1 hr per week | Mid April-May | 1 hr |
| Amphibian Egg Mass Monitoring | 2012 | Survey for salamander and frog egg masses along wetland edges Each wetland is surveyed three times to capture different species use | Surveys take 2-3 hrs per survey
Survey timing: February – early April | Early to mid January | 6hrs total
4hr January workshop 2hr field ID February training |
| Shorebird Surveys | 2012 pilot | Observe and record shorebird species / numbers in Thurston County | Survey timing: Spring and fall migration. Surveys can be conducted all year. 1-2 hrs weekly/ monthly | April: during spring shorebird migration | 1-2hrs |