Great Backyard Bird Count

This weekend is the Great Backyard Bird Count, sponsored by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. It is a chance for all of us - hard-core birders, backyard birdwatchers, or brand new birders - to become "citizen scientists." Simply watch and count birds, then submit your totals to Cornell's web site and you have contributed.

Just remember, when you count, you only count the highest number of birds you see at one time. In other words, if a chickadee flies to your feeder, flies away with a seed, and flies back 25 times, it is only one bird, not twenty-five. If you see one at your feeder and one on a tree waiting its turn, then you can count two chickadees. (Chickadees are the hardest birds to count, if you ask me, because of this feeding style. I know I have to have more than two, but I only ever see one at a time!)

The count goes on all weekend, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, and you can participate for all or part of that time. I worked Friday, and it looks like Sunday will be a cold, wet, windy day, but here are my numbers for Saturday:

Turkey Vulture- 1
Mourning Dove- 20
Red-bellied Woodpecker- 2
Downy Woodpecker- 3
Blue Jay- 6
Carolina Chickadee- 2
Tufted Titmouse- 2
White-breasted Nuthatch- 2
Carolina Wren- 1*
Eastern Bluebird- 1
Northern Mockingbird- 1
European Starling- 7
Song Sparrow- 1
White-crowned Sparrow- 1
Dark-eyed Junco- 3
Northern Cardinal- 6
Brown-headed Cowbird- 5
House Finch- 30
American Goldfinch- 30
House Sparrow- 6

* Yes, I saw a Carolina Wren in my "bluebird-style" feeder today, leaving with a chunk of suet dough. It is the first one I have seen in my yard since this time last winter. Whoot!