Thu
Feb 9 2006
12:31 pm
Great Backyard Bird Count, 2006
By: Andy Axel

Participate in the Great Backyard Bird Count of 2006!

For those of you unfamiliar with the GBBC, it's a cooperative venture between Audubon and the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. They have this survey every year, and they use data to establish trends in bird populations, such as migratory habits and sheer numbers nationwide.

Feb. 17 - 20. All you have to do is spend 15 minutes watching birds in your area, keep a tally sheet, and then upload it to the GBBC website. (A set of binoculars helps, as does a field guide to birds. I prefer the Sibley guides myself, but the Stokes and Peterson guides are also excellent.)

http://www.birdsource.org/gbbc/howto.html

It's easy, it's educational, and heck, it's even a little fun.

It's an SKB-approved (TM pending) activity, I'm sure, too.

Bonus: There will also be a juried photo competition this year.

Topics:
Andy Axel's picture

Submitted by Andy Axel on Tue, 2006/02/21 - 10:52am.

(link...)

Knoxville made the top 10 for localities with the highest number of submitted lists.

Good job!
____________________________

If we heard mortar shells, we'd cuss more in our songs and cut down on guitar solos

R. Neal's picture

Probably no more counts this

Submitted by R. Neal on Sat, 2006/02/18 - 2:40pm.
Probably no more counts this afternoon, at least for a while. A big ol' hawk just swooped through the backyard and scattered all the birds. He may have scored a finch or a dove or something, it all happened so fast I wasn't sure and besides I was wearing my reading glasses. There were certainly some impressive high-speed aerial maneuvers.
R. Neal's picture

Afternoon count

Submitted by R. Neal on Sat, 2006/02/18 - 1:44pm.

12:25 - 12:40 PM:

Dark-eyed Junco: 4
House finches: 12
Doves: 9
Cardinal: 1
Goldfinch: 1
Chickadee: 1
Meadowlark: 1 (he came back!)

Light to moderate snow, 1/2 in. +/- accumulation, 32 degrees.

Andy Axel's picture

Saturday A.M., 10 - noon CT

Submitted by Andy Axel on Sat, 2006/02/18 - 2:46pm.

European Starling, 2
Dark Eyed Junco, 5
White throated sparrow, 4
Purple Finch, 3
Goldfinch, 2
Cardinal, 6
American crow, 4
Bluejay, 1
Tufted titmouse, 6
Carolina chickadee, 2
Downy woodpecker, 1
Rufous-sided towhee, 1
Carolina wren, 4
Eastern bluebird, 1
Mourning dove, 2
Song sparrow, 1
Chipping sparrow, 3

Variable winds 5mph, 28 down to 23, light snow, accumulation ~2"
____________________________

If we heard mortar shells, we'd cuss more in our songs and cut down on guitar solos

R. Neal's picture

Morning counts: 8:30 -

Submitted by R. Neal on Sat, 2006/02/18 - 12:32pm.

Morning counts:

8:30 - 8:45 AM (before and just after filling feeders):

Robins: 2
Doves: 3
Dark-eyed Junco: 1
House finches: 4
Meadowlark: 1 (a first for me, anywhere, much less the back yard)

10:55 - 11:10 AM

House finches: 18
Gold finches: 2
Chickadee: 1
Doves: 11
Starlings: 50 (est. in a nearby field)

Surprised to see a Meadowlark. Never seen one before that I can remember. Took us a while to figure out what it was.

The starlings sent in a few scouts to check out the feeders, but the house finches seemed a little territorial and aggressive towards them and they moved on (thankfully).

Earlier it was about 38 and there was some ice/sleet, with a small accumulation of ice. It has since turned to snow, right now about 33 degrees. Starting to get a very light dusting.

R. Neal's picture

My only counts for today...

Submitted by R. Neal on Fri, 2006/02/17 - 7:55pm.

Had family business to help with this afternoon, but while waiting for some medical equipment to be delivered at the in-laws tallied the following in their mostly wooded yard (sans feeders):

2/17/06 1:05-1:20 PM

Tufted Titmouse: 3
Crows (overhead): 10 + 2 stragglers, so I call it 12
Cardinal: 1 (think I heard a second, never saw it)
Cooper's (pretty sure) Hawk: 1

That last one might account for the general paucity of birds. Heard some others but couldn't identify them by call, and saw one other that might have been a woodpecker or sapsucker or something running up and down a tree but he was too far away to identify.

Andy Axel's picture

Crows: 6Starlings: 12 (this

Submitted by Andy Axel on Fri, 2006/02/17 - 8:22pm.

Crows: 6
Starlings: 12 (this morning)

Titmouse: 2
Chickadee: 3
Cardinal: 4 (2 male, 2 female)
Mallard Duck: 3
Turkey Vulture: 1
Chipping Sparrow: 20 (est)

And 8 white tailed deer, 5 juvenile, 2 does, 1 buck (best guess). Right through the backyard about a half hour ago.

____________________________

If we heard mortar shells, we'd cuss more in our songs and cut down on guitar solos

R. Neal's picture

Cool. I started to add an

Submitted by R. Neal on Fri, 2006/02/17 - 8:32pm.

Cool.

I started to add an FA-18 (or it might have been an A-10, it was sort of overcast in that direction, but those are the two usual suspects). Do those count? There's been a lot of activity at the ANG base here in the last couple of days.

Anyway, looking forward to more backyard bird counts.

WhitesCreek's picture

Dang! What are you putting

Submitted by WhitesCreek on Sat, 2006/02/18 - 9:02am.
Dang! What are you putting in that feeder? I have the usual suspects at the feeders so far: Carolina wrens Chickadees titmice Junkos Nuthatch Downy woodpecker Sapsucker Purple finchs (boys and girls) (No Red bellied WP so far) In the air: Bald eagle (2-immature and 1-mature) crows mystery ducks Blue heron In the woods: Pileated WP In the brush: those little brown birds
R. Neal's picture

Hey, thanks for the

Submitted by R. Neal on Thu, 2006/02/09 - 8:25pm.
Hey, thanks for the reminder. I meant to do this last year and forgot the date. I think it would be cool for KnoxViews readers to post their results here as well.

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