Great Backyard Bird Count, Wrap Up

The Great Backyard Bird Count for 2014 is over, and I completed my final check this afternoon.  Overall, it has not been a spectacular year here.  I toted up 27 species (two hawks added today -- Red Tailed Hawk shown) and a minimum of 68 birds on the property.  The gold winner was American Goldfinch, with at least 15 birds.  House Finch held second place with 9, and Northern Cardinal with 8.  I was disappointed not to see certain predicted species (Pine Warbler and Northern Flicker come to mind) and bird populations seemed awfully law.  In fact for 22 species I never counted more than two birds.  My methodology has not changed, so perhaps certain environmental conditions did.  Were my feeders relatively less attractive? was weather (first icy, then moderately warm) a factor?  Tomorrow I will file my seven lists and move on.  Now I have some things to watch as spring unfolds.

Great Backyard Bird Count, Part II

Day three of the annual Great Backyard Bird Count is done, and I have compiled three additional checks for an overall total of five checks and 3 1/2 hours.  At this point I have counted 25 species and a minimum number of 64 birds.  The American Goldfinch (shown) is still the weekend leader (with 15 birds) and was the most counted today (9).  If we put this in Olympics terms, the silver medal leader is the House Finch (9 birds) and the bronze is in the hands of the Northern Cardinal (8).  I have yet to see a truly unusual bird and I am still missing a few plausibles (e.g. Fish Crow, Hairy Woodpecker, Northern Flicker, Golden Crowned Kinglet, Common Grackle, Brown Thrasher, and Pine Warbler).  It is also a relief I have not been overwhelmed by, say, Blackbirds and Siskins, as was true last year.  We're on for one last day and then I can wrap up the count.  Let's see what happens!

Great Backyard Bird Count, Part 1

The 2014 edition of the Great Backyard Bird Count is underway, and I have started collecting my data for the four day run.  I was not in a good position to bird during Friday, but got in three sessions today totaling 90 minutes.  (I am a busy person!)  I am expecting more available time the rest of the weekend.  And I was impacted by high winds from a departing storm that kept the birds in hunker-down mode.  But this was enough time to spot 21 species on the property.  The top species, by far, were the American Goldfinches.  I observed at least 15 birds at one time.  There were also at least 9 House Finches, 8 Northern Cardinals, and 5 Brown Headed Cowbirds.  I have not seen, yet, a single Hairy Woodpecker, Kinglet, American Crow, Towhee, Brown Headed Nuthatch, or Northern Flicker, all of which are found in these parts during winter. The count will go on and we will see what happens!

Being An Outlier

I had the opportunity to be a dratted outlier today.  For this was the day I uploaded my 11 lists from last weekend's Great Backyard Bird Count.  And the 8AM Sunday morning count of Pine Siskins (I tallied 52) was deemed "excessive" by the automated monitor.  So until a human moderator reads my comments, perhaps views my data, that data point has been excluded from the corpus of 2013 today.  Well, I know what I saw.  Those little speckled brown birds with yellow wing flashes could be nothing else.  I had no problem separating out the larger House Finches and the yellower goldfinches.  And it was a cold, icy morning.  For whatever reason I was attracting significant numbers of siskins that weekend.  I can explain this in that the siskins are, I think, gathering together in advance of migration.  And I had the best, easy food source in the area.  We'll see if Cornell Lab of Ornithology approves my checklist as submitted.  For me, it was enough to experience what could be a once-in-a-very-long-time moment.

GBBC: Day Four

The Great Backyard Bird Count is at its end! -- at least for me.  And with 11 checks totalling 5.5 hours, I have a pretty decent representation of the property in winter.  I added two more species today (American Crow and Red Tailed Hawk) for a weekend total of 30.  The really eye popping numbers for the day came from those dang blasted Red Winged Blackbirds: 96(!) at the late Monday count.  That definitely means I am shutting down the feeders for a week or two. I am done with that mob of raucus, noisy characters.  In second place were 52 Pine Siskins (Sunday AM), and in third, 18 House Finches (Sunday AM).  In total, I spotted a minimum of 238 birds.  The only real suprise missing species would be Chipping Sparrows and Northern Mockingbirds, both fair regulars that I missed all 11 times.  Well, 30 is not bad for a suburban back lot.  I'll send off those counts this week.  It was a great time...looking forward to more in 2014!

GBBC: Day Three

The Great Backyard Bird Count continues with good results from our site.  Sunday saw three checks (8AM, 2PM, and 4PM) and I brought the species count for the weekend up to 28 with the addition of a Northern Flicker and a Pine Warbler.  The Pine Siskin invasion was more pronounced: I counted 52 birds in the early AM check, but happily I saw rather fewer Red Winged Blackbirds than yesterday, with a maximum of 27 individuals.  Today also confirmed the existence of at least two birds each for Downy Woodpecker, Red Breasted Nuthatch, and White Breasted Nuthatch.  I also reached a local maximum for Mourning Doves (6), Eastern Bluebirds (3), Yellow Rumped Warblers (4), and House Finches (18).  Still absent from my view were Chipping Sparrows, crows, grackles, and the elusive House Wrens, and that Baltimore Oriole I saw earlier this winter has not materialized when I watched.  Well, one more day to go and there's still a chance for building my seasonal profile.  Can't wait!

GBBC: Day Two

The Great Backyard Bird Count continues!  And thanks to a surprise Dixie Snowfall (it started snowing 9:30 AM and hasn't quit yet) I contented myself to monitor the birds through the day, and counted in four separate half hour shifts (8AM, 11AM, 2PM, and 4PM).  The overall species count for the weekend now stands at 26 as I picked up 11 not seen Friday.  In fact, I picked up a yard life lister in the form of a Fox Sparrow in the early afternoon!  Others that decided to show up included the Pine Siskins, goldfinches, the Hermit Thrush, White- and Red-Breasted Nuthatches, towhees, bluebirds, Brown Thrasher, and Blue Jay.  I did not see a massive Red Winged Blackbird attack like yesterday's, and saw at most 15 birds.  But the Siskins...(!)  At one point I counted no less than 47 birds...and I suspected there were more either just out of sight or which I could not identify.  The photo shows some of them mixed with odd goldfinches.  But that was all in all the most siskins I have seen in my life...and this an irruptive winter species in these parts!  So I will conduct more counts tomorrow.  And I am still looking for a few species that I should see, among them, the flickers, Pine Warbler, Chipping Sparrow, Common Grackle, Northern Mockingbird, and Ruby Crowned Kinglet.  And Crows? and who knows what else.  All is looking fine!

GBBC: Day One

As planned, I've gotten my first list complete for the 2013 Great Backyard Bird Count.  I had a window of opportunity between the workplace craziness and "date night", and watched every corner of the yard from 4:18 to 4:48.  This half hour brought me fifteen species and generally expected or low counts.  For example, only one chickadee, titmouse, Yellow Rumped Warbler, and wren.  But the junco count looked right (5) and I even spotted two Brown Headed Cowbirds.  I was surprised to see no Pine Siskins, towhees, or chipping sparrows but the weekend is still young.  On the other hand, I was stupified by the number of Red Winged Blackbirds.  I was able to actually see and count as many as 43 birds (!) and there were even more than that in the trees.  This time I even teased out one female among the mob of males.  Tomorrow should be good for  another two or three counts in different parts of the day.  And the expected snow Saturday night may yield interesting results for Sunday.  Lots yet to see!

Time For The Great Backyard Bird Count!

At last it is time for the Great Backyard Bird Count!  We can start filing our lists beginning tomorrow and can count through Monday evening.  I am charged up to do this, having missed last year's due to a family emergency well out of town.  The big question is how many different species I will see this time around.  With the irruptives visiting for the winter a count as high as 42 species is possible based on my life list for the property.  But one never knows what odds and ends will cross the yard!  I am hoping to get off to a fast start with a 15 minute check tomorrow after the day's office labors are complete, and then dig in with multiple counts for the next several days, with extra attention early and late day.  If you're interested in doing the Count in your favorite location, visit their site!  And happy counting!  I will of course post my own updates here...