counting birds

Last weekend I participated in my first Great Backyard Bird Challenge (GBBC). It is a global four day event, with like-minded people participating as Citizen Scientists.

GBBC participants have been counting birds for 25 years. There are other universal tracking opportunities throughout the year. 2022 stats rolled in with 7035 species observed (to date). Wow!  You can see the data that was recorded here.

It was an interesting learning experience. There aren't enough hours in the day to fully immerse oneself into the ever changing data on ebird. I've had an account for many years, but I've never tracked the birds I find. I am completely impressed with the site functionality. Someone wrote a very robust informational and tracking program!

To participate in the GBBC, they ask for at least one 15 minute window of observation time. You can count birds as much as you want from anywhere. It is not backyard exclusive.

I decided to keep things simple for my first time and window watch from the comfort of my home. Consequently, my stats are not that exciting.
 

I observed twice, on two different days (4 total). I saw 11 species: Dark-eyed Junkos, Black capped Chickadee's, American Crows, Blue Jays, Downy & Red-Bellied Woodpeckers, Northern Cardinals, American Goldfinch, Common Redpoll and the most exciting for me was seeing Bluebirds.

(phone shot through a window screen)

I was happy the Bluebirds decided to show up again. They would probably be the least common bird to contribute for my efforts. Although the first time I saw male & female (not pictured) Bluebirds this year was over a week ago.

With many variables & similarities there were some birds I saw but couldn’t exactly ID. Mainly because birdee's move before I can figure them out lol! You are asked to do the best you can. 

I regularly get other species at my feeders (ex. nuthatches) but the idea on the count is for participants to gather data from the set duration of time.

Even with the Bluebird sightings, window watching was a little anti-climatic. I almost made a trip back to the river to look for raptors & waterfowl. Even if common ones. Until suddenly a huge flock of Cedar Waxwings flew onto our oaks and stole the show. That was an exciting game changer!!

They are hard to miss, when they fly in large flocks. I guestimated there were 60 birds on the two trees I could see from my vantage point. Their flocks are much larger.

Not the greatest photos. I am still learning to love (?) my heavy telephoto lens. I might love it faster if I take the extender off so I can shoot clearer. The above two pics were shot through a window.

If you really want to attract birds, get a bird bath. This year has really proved this common advice to be true. 

Cedar Waxwings
(phone shot through a window screen)

They fluttered around off/on for about four hours. Here is a short video of the Cedar Waxwings taken on the other side of our house. Not during my observation tracking time. I was trying to capture their sound/s.

It was a little bit of a bummer to see all the colorful ebird data from the warmer regions, knowing I will most likely never have the opportunity to experience seeing them in person. However, being able to click through to subregions and see and learn about them vicariously through others ~ is pretty damn cool!!

Bird counting and tracking my findings was fun! I will be doing more of it.