Message Boards

I posted in VE's thread that I would bring the link here. It's going on this weekend. There will be random drawings for prizes for those who participate. Easy to do & you can do as little as 15 min. or all day if you want...and all days if you want.

http://www.birdsource.org/gbbc...013&utm_medium=email

Thanks Karen. I created an account.......it's pretty location specific. Will see what I can come up with on a count. This might be fun.


ve

Thanks Karen. I had forgotten about it.

I have had so much fun with this bird count. Good grief, no wonder I go through so much bird seed..between the sweeties and the blackbirds, we have a plethora of birds! I had two entries for today. I counted 3 turkey buzzards, a flock of wild turkeys (had to estimate how many) and a great blue heron on the way to church. Then there was the backyard count!..WoW

A side note: I sent an email to them because they did not have the Redheaded Woodpecker on the list. This guy responded and said it was probably listed under rarities because they are not that common anymore. We have them everywhere, so I was pretty much floored to read that. Interesting huh!

ve

PS: FFG - since you are a bona fida birder, do you do this every year?

VE, have you checked them out in the results (eBird Range Map)from this year yet? They are not as common in the SE as some of the other woodpecker species but there seem to be a fair number of sightings of them.

I too am somewhat surprised that they would be on your rarities list. They are on our regular list. But I personally haven't seen one since I was a teen. Maybe I just haven't been in the right places at the right times.

By the way, I'm blanking on what you might be calling sweeties. Do you mind reminding me?

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Luv R Pups,

Pups - what I am calling sweeties are the regular backyard birds, the ones who fill the air with songs & tweets, even coarse calls....house finches, gold finches, cardinals, sparrows, blue jays, blue birds, chickadees, titmice, etc. I even like the coarsness of the crow calls. I like just about all birds...don't even mind the blackbirds if they'd not be piggies at the feeders.

Another bird I could not find on the list was the Eastern Kingbird. It wasn't on the regular or the rarities list. Also, the red headed woodpecker wasn't on my rarieties list. I tried to add it but it wouldn't take.

From what I read on the information page, they are more interested in migratory birds. We don't have a lot of those here and when we do, it's too early for them yet. We get rosebreasted grosbeaks and cedar waxwings sometimes and that's pretty much it for the migrants.

Since you are in the Atlanta area I find it strange that you had a separate list from me...you stated that they are on your regular list. Since you are only a few hours away, I find the list differences interesting.

Whatever, it was a fun thing to do and I enjoyed it.


ve

I turned mine in last night. This is always a wee bit too early for a large count in my back yard. Only two hummers are visiting right now, two goldfinches, and only one robin has come through. No scrub jays or oriels yet. Haven't seen either of my hawks in a while.

Vera, I'm ashamed to admit that I don't do it regularly, at least for my own yard. I usually participate in a count somewhere, though.

I do report my outings to eBird when we are out and about. All the surveys in the forest that I participated in are in there.

Today, my sapsucker is in his tree, the carolina wren is singing up a storm, and the other "sweeties" as you call them are flitting around. We have chipping sparrows most every day, the occasional pine siskin, and yellow rump warblers. It's been a scarce winter for white throats or white crowned sparrows. It is early for the migration, though, so things should pick up as we go into March.

It rained overnight, so I need to go out and refill some of the feeders. Now, if I could figure a way to keep those 10 squirrels away, we'd be in business!

quote:

From what I read on the information page, they are more interested in migratory birds.

Yet in the FAQ section on the GBBC site when explaining why they do it in Feb., they say

"The GBBC gives us a snapshot of how birds are surviving the winter and where they are located just before spring migrations begin in March. Scientists at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, the National Audubon Society, Bird Studies Canada, and elsewhere can combine this information with data from surveys conducted at different times of the year."

I don't see anything in that statement that specifically says it's only for migratory birds (so if that is their aim, they need to make that more clear.) But from it, I can understand why the Eastern Kingbird was not on either of our lists, since it is not commonly known to be in either area this time of year. But I still find it weird that you didn't have the Red-headed Woodpecker even on the rarities list. You might want to send them another email to see if you can get it added in the future, since it shows as being in your area year round on the Cornell site and the Patuxent Bird Identification InfoCenter site too.

As for calling the common resident birds sweeties, I like that! They are like little friends.

FFG, sounds like a great day in your back yard. But it also sounds like you have a real challenge trying to keep 10 squirrels out of your feeders. With that many around, you'll probably have a growing population of them too unless hawks or cats or something help out. Sounds like my folks' place with an ever growing squirrel population. I like squirrels but they can be pests at times.