Great Backyard Bird Count
This weekend is the Great Backyard Bird Count, an event sponsored by Cornell Lab of Ornithology and the Audubon Society. Participants are asked to take 15 minutes or more any day from Feb. 12 - 14 and observe what species of birds are in your garden (or whatever location you choose). You submit your report to them online and they use the data to study where the birds are located, migration patterns, etc. It is easy, fun and really only takes a few minutes to submit the report. There is still a day left if you haven't done it yet!
I took about 40 minutes this morning and observed birds from every window in the house and walked around the garden for about 15 minutes. In all, I observed the following birds:
Sparrow (not sure what kind!) - 21
Goldfinch - 12
House Finch - 7
Tufted Titmouse - 4
Dark Eyed Junco - 4
Mourning Dove - 4
Robin - 3
Carolina Chickadee - 2
Mockingbird - 2
Cardinal - 1
That is a total of 60 birds and 10 different species. I also saw a new bird this year, the dark-eyed Junco. Thanks to fellow bloggers, they helped me identify it.
It was a beautiful sunny day for bird watching and a tad warmer. The "S" word is in the forecast for tomorrow!
Text and photos by Phillip Oliver, Dirt Therapy
I took about 40 minutes this morning and observed birds from every window in the house and walked around the garden for about 15 minutes. In all, I observed the following birds:
Sparrow (not sure what kind!) - 21
Goldfinch - 12
House Finch - 7
Tufted Titmouse - 4
Dark Eyed Junco - 4
Mourning Dove - 4
Robin - 3
Carolina Chickadee - 2
Mockingbird - 2
Cardinal - 1
That is a total of 60 birds and 10 different species. I also saw a new bird this year, the dark-eyed Junco. Thanks to fellow bloggers, they helped me identify it.
It was a beautiful sunny day for bird watching and a tad warmer. The "S" word is in the forecast for tomorrow!
Comments
Are you sure you didn't ID the Song Sparrows incorrectly? Usually at best you see one or two at a time sometimes three. The bird you didn't list could be in much bigger numbers it is the White-throated Sparrow.
Here is a link to good photos of both sparrows http://rlephoto.blogspot.com/2009/12/birds-on-melt-down.html
The website says Monday is also included so I have a couple more chances. We have many birds in common, Phillip. One seasonal visitor I got to count today was the cedar waxwing. Luckily none of mine were sparrows, because they look awfully alike to me!
Annie at the Transplantable Rose
http://www.livescience.com/strangenews/water-freeze-heat-100211.html
I really love garden birds. We had some goods sized trees around my old home. They were always filled with birds and on nice nights I'd leave the bedroom window open and wake up to their songs in the morning. I also liked seeing goldfinches on sunflower heads.
We also had a small water garden and had several visits from blue herons. Sparrow hawks would also frequented the area and would sit on the deck railing with their prey.
I didn't realize how many varieties of sparrows there were until recently. I find them difficult to identify as well. I can usually pick up subtle differences but apparently not with sparrows.
One of the oddest things I've seen is a king fisher. I tend to see them about once a year.