The Great Backyard Bird Count
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Male downy woodpecker like we saw at Quarry Hill.
Last summer I was thinking about how I need to learn the names of all the birds that I see and hear around my house. Just so happens that Feb. 12-15 is the weekend for the 13th annual Great Backyard Bird Count. So I am little late in posting this as tomorrow is the last day that this event takes place, but I thought it was neat. Taken right from their website www.birdsource.org: “The Great Backyard Bird Count is an annual four-day event that engages bird watchers of all ages in counting birds to create a real-time snapshot of where the birds are across the continent. Anyone can participate, from beginning bird watchers to experts. It takes as little as 15 minutes on one day, or you can count for as long as you like each day of the event. It’s free, fun, and easy—and it helps the birds.”
Basically you just go outside for at least 15 minutes and take note of what birds you see, then submit your info on the website. They have specific regional bird checklists for all over the US to help you identify the birds. This is just the kind of source I was looking for to be more informed about birds specifically around here. And they even have links to pictures and descriptions of each bird on the list. So if any of you are interested, join me tomorrow as I go out in search of birds… all I can recall seeing around here lately are big black crows, but maybe if I pay more attention, I’ll see a few others surviving the bitter cold. Oh, I almost forgot, we did see some pretty birds at the bird watch area at Quarry Hill Nature Center last week. But I doubt those woodpeckers and such will be flying around our backyard.
And a Happy Valentine’s Day and Chinese New Year to all of you too. We had a fun day full of roses, big homemade hershey kisses (with rice krispies inside), cinnamon gummy hearts, Chinese sweet egg roll cookies, Chinese jelly candies, and all kinds of other treats. It’s not every day you get two holidays in one. We enjoyed the best of both.
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