The Great Backyard Bird Count

This is the first time I've participated in the Great Backyard Bird Count http://birdsource.org/gbbc . I may have been peripherally aware of it, but until reading about it again on WildlifeGardeners, I'd never done a count.

Yesterday the numbers were pretty slim, but this morning after all the snow we got over night, there were quite a few to count. Despite possibly losing one cardinal to a hawk this morning, I still counted nine in the yard.

Several species of birds that have visited this winter did not show up for the count. I did however get a few pictures to post, and I enjoyed spending more time watching than I usually do.









I've had more variety in the past, but here is what I saw during the half hour I watched:

Mourning Dove 2
Blue Jay 2
Black-capped Chickadee 3
Tufted Titmouse 1
European Starling 10
Song Sparrow 1
Dark-eyed Junco (Slate-colored) 3
Northern Cardinal 9

Normally I see a lot more chickadees, I saw six blue jays later in the day. The nuthatches, Carolina wren, and purple finch that I've seen other days did not show up.

Luckily the European starlings I saw only showed up for a moment. It was a small flock that came to the feeder, but immediately flew off either because they didn't like the black oil sunflower seeds I offer (that is one reason why I do offer only black oil) or because the other birds scared them off--seems unlikely but it kind of looked that way. :)