The Great Backyard Bird Count... February 18-21
The Great Backyard Bird Count is an annual four-day event that engages bird watchers of all ages in counting birds to create a real-time snapshot of where the birds are across the continent. Anyone can participate, from beginning bird watchers to experts. It takes as little as 15 minutes on one day, or you can count for as long as you like each day of the event. It’s free, fun, and easy—and it helps the birds.
What a great cause to support! The site has easy to follow directions and regional bird checklists that you can download to help with your count. Here's the basic steps..
- Count the birds at least 15 minutes on one or more days of the count.
- Count the greatest number of species you see together at one time.
- Enter your results at their website.
I'll try to add to this post during the days of the count...
February 18: 30 minutes... Because of the recent snow thaw and the wonderful warm weather today, I didn't see as many birds as usual.-- I think they must be taking advantage of the nice day to work on nest building...
American Goldfinch |
1 Downy Woodpecker
1 White-breasted Nuthatch
3 Northern Cardinals
1 Blue-Jay
2 Carolina Wrens-building a nest in my garage!
3 Tufted Titmice
2 American Goldfinch
2 Canadian Geese-visiting my neighbor's pond...
Black-Capped Chickadee |
2 Downy Woodpeckers
1 White-breasted Nuthatch
7 Northern Cardinals
2 Blue-Jay
3 Black Capped Chickadees
4 Tufted Titmice
2 American Goldfinch
1 Red Headed Woodpecker
Female Northern Cardinal |
Canadian Geese |
Buff Orpingtons! |
Supposedly, chickens aren't allowed in the count!
Statistics from 2011
Total Checklists Submitted: 91,807
Total Species Observed: 595
Total Individual Birds Counted: 11,354,230