I just got the Cornell Lab of Ornithology email announcing this year’s Great Backyard Bird Count, and even tho it’s still early, I thought I’d post it here to give everybody a heads up!

This year’s Great Backyard Bird Count is February 12 to 15!

For those of you who may not have done this before, it’s simple! You just keep track of the birds you see in your backyard on any or all of those dates. Then you go online to report which birds you saw, and how many of each.

Here’s another page with more information about what it is and how to participate linked in the left hand column.

You can stay inside and just count the birds you see in your yard for this one, or you can choose to go on a fun outing somewhere to do it. No rules! Just count the birds you see and report them!

I hope some of you will decide to participate again this year.

There’s also a Christmas Bird Count which runs from December 14 to January 5. I had never heard about that one before! I just checked it out, and the Christmas Bird Count is much more "official" than the Backyard Bird Count! You need to sign up for it, and then you go out with a group to count birds in a specific area. If you’re interested, more info about this one can be found at the first site I linked above.

Tweet, Tweet,
Skybird

February 14, 2009 — Last year’s Great Backyard Bird Count!

Don’t click on the link on top that says: Show this checklist with rare species included. That’ll just freak you out—you and a whole bunch of other people—me included!

Once you get to the list you’ll be able to eliminate a bunch of the birds, like most of the water birds, right away, and you’ll wind up with a pretty short list of ones you need to try to identify. If you see something and have some idea what it might be, click on the name on the list and you’ll come up with a picture and some basic information. Then click on Identification, and you’ll get a whole bunch more information along with more pictures and information/pictures of "similar species." Since you’re already starting with a list of the most likely birds, it’s a lot easier to use than a book that has birds from all over the country.

If you see something and you don’t have any idea at all what it is, flip thru one of your books to get some idea of what it is, and then go back to the list with the limited choices.

Since you’re here in the metro area, you’re list is probably the same as mine. If you have sparrows or sparrow-like birds, there’s a pretty good chance you’re looking at house sparrows (which aren’t really sparrows) or house finches (which really ARE finches!!!) Check out those pictures and I’m betting it'll cover a whole lot of the birds you’re seeing.

Up here in Thornton the birds I mostly see are House Finches, Eurasian Collared Doves, Mourning Doves, Red Shafted Northern Flickers, Hairy Woodpeckers, Blue Jays, sometimes Goldfinches and a couple kinds of Juncos, and, of course, Robins. I rarely see them at this house (had them at the last house which is only a couple miles away), but I know there are Downy Woodpeckers and Black Capped Chickadees around here. Oh! And how could I forget? I also have herds of blackbirds! I do my best to keep them scared away, but sometimes that’s a losing battle! Over the years I’ve seen a few other things, but that list covers 99% of the birds I regularly see at the feeders in my yard.

If you put out "generic" bird seed, you probably have mountains of House Sparrows too. I quit feeding millet several years ago, so they finally stopped coming to eat me out of house and home. I feed black oil sunflower, safflower, and thistle now, and though they cost more, at least it’s going to birds that "matter!" In winter I feed suet too.

If you see something that you don’t have a clue about and you can get a picture of it, post it and there’s probably somebody around here who can tell you what it is.

Last year I think I did it on two of the days. I just kept a scratch pad nearby and listed things as I saw them, and then just changed the number any time I saw more of any particular bird at the same time. You’re not supposed to keep track of the total number you see during the day—just the most you see at any one time. After you’ve counted you just go to the Backyard Bird Count site and you go to a page which is very similar to the list you’ve been referring to for identification, then you scroll down to the right bird and enter your numbers.

The second picture above is a male hairy woodpecker and the third one is a Eurasian collared dove. I’ve never before or since seen so many, but on one of the bird count days last year I had TWELVE robins in my yard at the same time—nine at the birdbath right outside of the window, and the rest on the grass real close to it. I couldn’t believe it when they just kept coming and coming! I usually have a pair or two around. Hope I get to see that many at the same time again sometime!

It really is easy if you’re around to keep an eye out for them. I hope this info will encourage you and others to give it a try. When you have time, go to the list to identify the birds you’re seeing before the bird count. Most of the birds you see will be the same ones over and over, so once you know what they are you won’t need to be trying to identify them on the count day.

Everybody—let us know if we can try to help you identify something,
Skybird

I received a Great Backyard Bird Count email from Cornell today, reminding me that it’s just over 2 weeks until the count, so I’m going to bump this up to remind everyone!

Here’s a link to the newsletter they sent today, and here’s a link to the What’s That Sparrow page they linked.

Prepare to look!
Skybird

Here are links to the two most recent emails I’ve received from GBBC. If anybody has any questions, give a hollar!

GBBC Participant Update

GBBC Participant Newsletter

Happy counting,
Skybird

The first place we went, we didn't see a single bird, but learned from someone there about some BLM land about 3 miles down the road. Less than 1/10 of a mile from the car, a Bald Eagle flew overhead. When we headed in that direction, we saw it in a tree with a younger one. You can't tell in the photo, but the one on the left doesn't have the white head and tail yet.

We also saw a total of 7 deer while we were there. My oldest son took this picture:

On the frontage road we saw a couple of Red-tailed Hawks, but weren't able to get a decent shot. They kept moving from tree to tree, to fencepost, to lightpost to get away from us, so this is the best picture I got. When they were in flight, you could really see the red tail feathers.

We also saw one Mountain Bluebird, and one Magpie. There were some smaller birds in the scrub, but we couldn't get close enough to identify them.

Hope to get out again tomorrow or Monday, depending on how much snow we end up with.

Bonnie

I had a less than stellar day counting birds today! FAR less than stellar! I only saw one flicker, one hairy woodpecker, and 8 house finches! What a letdown after my twelve robins all at the same time last year! I put more sunflower seed out and added to the safflower too, and we could get a little bit of snow overnite, so maybe I’ll be luckier tomorrow.

Fingers crossed,
Skybird