Thu 5 Feb 2009
Time for the Great Backyard Bird Count
Posted by Nicole under Surveys and Counts
[2] Comments
The Great Backyard Bird Count is coming up on February 13-16, 2009. Bird and nature fans throughout North America are invited to join tens of thousands of everyday bird watchers for the 12th annual Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC). A joint project of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and the National Audubon Society, this free event is an opportunity for families, students, and people of all ages to discover the wonders of nature in backyards, schoolyards, and local parks, and, at the same time, make an important contribution to conservation.
I remember my first backyard bird count, 10years ago. I was just discovering birds and hadn’t even found out about Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy yet (which seems unfathomable now!). I had just two bird books…The Stokes Beginners Guide to Birds and the Peterson Field Guide to Eastern Birds and I had a pair of binoculars that my husband had bought for my birthday a few weeks earlier. I picked my day within the count window (it was a nice Saturday) and got all my feeders filled up.
That morning, I started out by sitting inside at a window where I could watch the feeders and I tallied all the birds I could see. Then I went out for a nice stroll through the trees in the back yard to see what birds were hunkered in to the trees or foraging in the leaves. By the end of my circuit, I had a tally of about 15 species of birds and various other little wildlife observations. I was excited by all the different birds and so pleased with having identified some “new birds”. It made me feel so alive and engaged…my sense of discovery was ignited and I was hooked.
This is a great event for the beginner and the already hooked birder. Its exciting to see all the different animals right there that share your yard and surroundings as home. I definitely encourage anyone with interest to jump in to this great backyard count. It’s at your own pace, on a day of your choosing within the count window and you can do it on your own, or with family or friends.
Participants count birds and report their sightings online at www.birdcount.org. For more information visit www.birdsource.org/gbbc/.
After you do your count, please post a comment here and let us know what birds you saw during your great count!
I did my count today. It was fun. I observed 22 species of birds in an hour.
Cool! That’s especially great for just an hour!! Nice spotting!