Great Backyard Bird Count --Fri, Sat, Sun, Mon

[marions ghost]

You only have to count the bird species you see in your backyard for 15 minutes for ONE of these days (but you have the option to do more than that). Sponsored by Cornell Lab (Cornell University)
Easy instructions. You do not have to be a professional birder. Great fun for kids.

GO TO:

http://gbbc.birdcount.org/get-started/

[elleng]

1. Thanks!

Post @ Birders?

[marions ghost]

2. OK

thanks

[Nay]

3. I do this for the 4 days, and also Project Feederwatch all winter. It's great

fun.

[Loki]

4. Signed up and ready to go!

[marions ghost]

6. yay

[KoKo]

5. Recommend..

[Aerows]

7. This far South, we have Cardinals aplenty

They are everywhere, but this winter, they are just trying to stay warm . Love them. I even feel sorry for the Bluejays this year, and they are difficult LOL. Well, not as bad as a Mockingbird in the spring, but bad enough

I've had wrens nest under the eaves for at least 4 years. Cute little grassbirds. I love them and I scolded the cat once and she has left them alone since. I don't think the other cats will, but my cat is pretty much the defender of her territory so none of those get here, anyway. Except the raccoons, and they can't reach the baby wrens

I'm thinking of building a small wire box under the eaves so that the nasty things can't get to the mother or father when sitting on the eggs.

[marions ghost]

8. Where ever you live in the country

--you can go to the Great Backyard Bird Count website, plug in your zipcode and print out a list of birds you are likely to see in your area. (On this page, look down the page for a link to "US/Canada Bird Lists&quot
http://gbbc.birdcount.org/get-started/

[marions ghost]

9. Why Count Birds?

Why count birds?

Scientists and bird enthusiasts can learn a lot by knowing where the birds are. Bird populations are dynamic; they are constantly in flux. No single scientist or team of scientists could hope to document and understand the complex distribution and movements of so many species in such a short time.

Scientists use information from the Great Backyard Bird Count, along with observations from other citizen-science projects, such as the Christmas Bird Count, Project FeederWatch, and eBird, to get the “big picture” about what is happening to bird populations. The longer these data are collected, the more meaningful they become in helping scientists investigate far-reaching questions, like these:

• How will the weather and climate change influence bird populations?

• Some birds, such as winter finches, appear in large numbers during some years but not others. Where are these species from year to year, and what can we learn from these patterns?

• How will the timing of birds’ migrations compare with past years?

• How are bird diseases, such as West Nile virus, affecting birds in different regions?

• What kinds of differences in bird diversity are apparent in cities versus suburban, rural, and natural areas?

The Great Backyard Bird Count is led by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and National Audubon Society, with Bird Studies Canada and many international partners. The Great Backyard Bird Count is powered by eBird. The count is made possible in part by founding sponsor Wild Birds Unlimited.

[spinbaby]

10. That's cool

I'm not home to do it this year, but am saving the link for next year.

[marions ghost]

11. excellent

[Solly Mack]

12. K&R

[marions ghost]

13. If you have snow

--it makes it easier to ID birds...

So I did the count for 15 minutes this morning. Saw a lot of the usual birds at the feeder out in the yard. Good to use binoculars or a zoom lens of some kind. You might try photographing as a way of identifying.

Probably the most unusual three birds I saw were blue jays. When I live blue jays are not common in woods--I have only ever seen them in snow or ice conditions, when they range more widely.
So for this microcosm, Blue Jays are odd.

Keep your eyes open for unusual birds not on your local list. Sometimes in winter you may see some odd ones dropping in.

At the end of my viewing a fluffed up juvenile hawk showed up--sat on a limb right over the feeder. If a hawk comes in you will see the smaller birds head for the bushes. The hawk is doing its own bird count

[marions ghost]

14. still plenty of time...

[NM_Birder]

15. Too Cool,

We'll be at the Bosque Del Apache tomorrow saying goodbye to the last of the crane and geese

[marions ghost]

16. awesome

[marions ghost]

17. 8609 checklists today so far....

kinda cute--WATCH IN REAL TIME as people submit their counts around the world:

http://ebird.org/ebird/gbbc/livesubs?siteLanguage=en

[marions ghost]

18. 11,000 submissions of bird lists today at 1:23 pm

the west coast is coming in...