PEOPLE! It’s time for the Great Backyard Bird Count! This is the 14th year for this fun and fabulous example of great citizen science. Sponsored by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and the Audubon Society, it brings together bird-watchers of all ages and skill levels across North America to gather information for a real-time look at where the birds are for one weekend in February – and this is it! Count for as little as 15 minutes on one day or for as long as you like. Take pictures of the birds, or of you and your family watching them, and submit them. Go to www.birdcount.org for more information!
Carolina wren
This little guy, the Carolina wren, is one that I have been attempting to get a picture of ever since he arrived at our feeders last year. Very elusive, very “bibbity-bobbity,” he made it difficult to get anything more than a blur! As you might remember, I did get his footprints last year though.
Tracks of Carolina wren
This year, he has been very photogenic, posing on the deck railing in-between food forays in the viburnum and the potentilla, and then zooming at breakneck speed over to the birdfeeder and back. Don’t you just love the way his tail points straight up? Click on this one for the big picture.
Carolina wren
As of 2 PM today (Fri, Feb 18th), there were 989,746 birds counted. Whew! and the counting goes on until Monday, Feb 21st! The deadline to enter your tally checklists is March 1st. Go to www.birdcount.org and see what birds are being counted in your neighborhood, see where birds are found all over the continent, and check out the spectacular photos in the gallery. And if you aren’t quite certain just what birds are in your backyard, go to their excellent learning pages starting here or the ever-excellent online bird guide from Cornell here.
Happy birding!
That little wren is darling. Nice picture.
Comment by Cathy — February 23, 2011 @ 12:40 am