The Garden Worm blog Digging up the best dirt on gardening!

January 30, 2010

More Winter, and More on Birds

Filed under: Creatures,Winter — Tags: , — Judy @ 6:27 pm

Ol’ Man Winter has come back again! We have single digit temperatures now and the thermometer dipped below zero last night. Brrr! The thing about snow and cold now though is that you KNOW that Spring is only a few weeks (OK, months!) away, but you feel like maybe you can get through it. The sun has a tad of warmth to it, and the fresh snow sparkles with its brilliance. Oh, I know that there will gray days with gray slush and gray clouds and gray dispositions, but still . . .

Today was a great day for watching the birds too! They were very hungry, trying to stay warm with this cold weather. Both mama and papa cardinals (we counted 12 of the males all at once!), blue jays (squawk!), chickadee-dee-dees, tufted titmice, busy nuthatches, silly mourning doves, tons of little brown birds (mostly rusty-capped sparrows), ugly starlings, cute little juncos, and the most fun of all – a red-bellied woodpecker! Why they call him red-bellied when it is his head that is red is totally confusing to me, but that’s what the book says!

So, how many birds can you count in this picture? (Hints: 1) Click on the picture to open it larger. 2) There are 3 different species in the picture.)
Count the birds

January 29, 2010

Great Backyard Bird Count 2010

Filed under: Creatures,Miscellaneous — Tags: , — Judy @ 1:12 am

The Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC) is an example of “citizen science” at its finest! Over four days in February (Feb 12-15), participants of all ages and bird-watching experience anywhere in the United States and Canada count birds. This creates a real-time snapshot that helps researchers gather information about birds and their wintertime habits.

It’s easy and fun – and it’s free! You can count for as little as 15 minutes on one day or count for as long as you like on each day. Count the birds at your backyard feeders or, if you don’t have a feeder, just in your backyard. Or take an outing to a local park or wildlife refuge.

The GBBC is a joint project between the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, the Audubon Society, and Bird Studies Canada. On their website (click here or on the bird picture link in the sidebar), you will find more information about the count, how to attract birds to your feeders, and help on those tricky bird IDs. You can also download tally sheets to help you keep track of your counts. Then, post your results and watch the counts come in on their map. What kinds of birds will you see?

Some birds seen in my backyard this year:

Red-breasted Nuthatch

Red-breasted Nuthatch

Young Hawk

Young Hawk, unknown variety

Mama Northern Cardinal

Mama Northern Cardinal

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