Great Backyard Bird Count 2015

After being reminded of the bird count on WildlifeGardeners, I forgot about it until Sunday.  I ended up being off on Monday as well, and here is the count from then (I saw more species and more individual birds that day)...

...If I recall, I saw more of several species in another list...and within a couple of days I saw several morning doves, at least 5 cardinals (2 males and 3 females), and at one point over 30 goldfinches--why do I never get these numbers when I'm doing a count!?  (comment added over a month later...as well as the gif above--had I waited until I had all of my photos ready, I'd never had posted at all!)

After seeing the photo, there are clearly more than thirty! :)
Well over fifty--if I didn't count some twice, I got up to 65!

10 species total

1	Mourning Dove
1	Red-bellied Woodpecker
4	Blue Jays
2	Black-capped Chickadees
1	Tufted Titmouse
1	American Tree Sparrow
3	Song Sparrows  (I'm not 100% sure of this ID.)
10	Dark-eyed Juncos
2	Northern Cardinals (1 male, 1 female)
14	and American Goldfinch

Great Backyard Bird Count: Photos & Tallies

I think it is only a month late, but here are the results of the GBBC back in February...and a few photos as well:

Okay...I just tried to find my bird count results and had no luck, so, if I find them, I'll post them later.  Either way, here are some pictures:

I had a Carolina wren, a nuthatch or two, some chickadees, and goldfinches in addition to the songbirds pictured above, but one of the highlights was when I spotted a hawk (thanks to the two crows causing a ruckus as they harassed him); it was nice to add something new to my lists.

Most surprising to me was that the rest of the birds kept on eating despite the predator so close by...perhaps they felt secure with the crows as their bodyguards.

Oh, and, not officially part of the count, there was one gray squirrel. ~smile~

Great Backyard Bird Count: 2014

It is that time of the year again.  I'm done a few counting sessions over the past two days, and have two more to go.  Photos and tallies to follow.

If you want to join in, it is very easy.  Start here:  Great Backyard Bird Count

Now They Show Up!

I think my numbers were down this year as compared to the last two that I did the Great Backyard Bird Count.  However, this morning, with a lot less light than I like for taking photographs, I saw twenty (count 'em), twenty mourning doves!  Now why weren't they around when I did the bird count?

I also saw three goldfinches later in the day after having only counted one during the time I was observing.   Last year, I had a whole branch filled with them (a rare sight for me anyway, but at least it happened during the count that year)!

Checking back, I realize that I saw the bluebird pair during the count last year.  I've yet to spot them checking out the bird boxes yet this year...but I hope to see them any day now.  I can wait, as long as they show up again and raise more broods here.  Spring can't be too far away.

Great Back Yard Bird Count: 2013

It is that time of year again, and after doing the count yesterday, I became a bit more productive.  I was inspired to begin planting my wildflower seeds.  I'm more determined than ever to convert this two acres into a beautiful and functional habitat that will attract a wider variety of wildlife than I'm seeing now.

The count from yesterday:

8 species total:

Mourning Dove 1
Blue Jay 4
Black-capped Chickadee 3
Tufted Titmouse 1
White-throated Sparrow 4 (I believe that is the correct ID...the birds have the yellow marking, but also have a brown spot on the center of its breast.)
Dark-eyed Junco 2
Northern Cardinal 4 (3 males, 1 female)
American Goldfinch 1

...and the one from today:

8 species total

Mourning Dove 2
Blue Jay 2
Black-capped Chickadee 3
White-breasted Nuthatch 1
Carolina Wren 1
White-throated Sparrow 4
Dark-eyed Junco 3
Northern Cardinal 7 (5 males, 2 females)

Great Backyard Bird Count Update

I never got around to posting the other two days of the bird count. The only difference in the three days was that a hairy woodpecker showed up the second day (the first I saw all winter)...and that there were more mourning doves on the third day--a full dozen.

No cardinals showed up during the count, but I do have one male and one female every once in a while.

The Great Backyard Bird Count 2012

This is my second year counting and submitting my results to http://www.birdsource.org/gbbc/.

I'm hoping to make this an annual thing and post my results here as well, so that I can look back, and, hopefully, see a marked improvement of both the numbers and varieties of birds that I see from year to year. As I improve the quality of the habitat our property provides, I would expect to see a greater variety of species that can make use of our yard.

Today's count:

Number of Species: 10

Mourning Dove - 4
Red-bellied Woodpecker - 1
Blue Jay - 3
Black-capped Chickadee - 2
Tufted Titmouse - 2
White-breasted Nuthatch - 1
Eastern Bluebird - 5
White-throated Sparrow - 5
Dark-eyed Junco (Slate-colored) - 3
American Goldfinch - 13

Promises Kept

In December, I posted some bird pictures with a promise of more to come. Although I have posted a few more, it seems there are fewer this year than last--maybe I'm just more discerning in what I post, but I think there have been fewer birds (or I've spent less time watching and photographing them). Today, with sustained temperatures lower than it has been in quite a while, I've notice a lot more birds and more of the variety I'd gotten used to.

At last, a nuthatch showed up today...as well as a chickadee...but not in the numbers I'm used to from past winters. Finally I have more photos to share--I think I spent more time cropping and adjusting them than I did taking them. Here's hoping that I get a lot of visitors next week when I do the Great Backyard Bird Count. :)

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. :)