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Monday, February 21, 2011

GBBC Results

SAM_3748The Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC) was held the past 4 days (Feb 18 – 21) and this was my first time.

Filling the feeders on Sat and Sun, Grenville and I then sat outside on the back porch and patiently waited for the throngs of birds we expected at the freshly filled feeders.SAM_3819

It didn’t happen – at least not while we were watching and counting. There were some birds, but since it was windy both days, this may have kept the count down. The 2-day tally for an hour outdoors each time:

  • 8 goldfinch
  • 6 cardinals
  • 6 cowbirds
  • 4 chickadees
  • 1 tufted titmouse
  • 1 nuthatch
  • 10 sparrows
  • 10 snow geese (in flight)
  • 6 turkey vultures (also in flight)

Many unwelcome visitors (starlings, grackles, blackbirds) hung out in the neighbor’s tree, and were excluded from the count.

GBBC collage2 022011cardinals collage 022011GBBC collage022011

21 comments:

Anonymous said...

Beautiful birds! I love the dove and wish we had some here during winter too. The ones we have migrates late in autumn and the two couples of city doves moves back to the town during winter :-)
I had almost no birds when we had our count either. It was during that short warm period so all birds were out on the fields and in the forest that day :-)

Have a great day now!
Christer.

Montanagirl said...

Nice collages of all the birds. We have about 3 dozen Collared Doves that hang around our backyard.

Unknown said...

Great beautiful bird shots.
Glad to see your posts again.
Costas.

Lois Evensen said...

Great images once again. How was the temperature outside when you sat out there?

Country Gal said...

Awesome bird photos. We live near a bird sanctuary called Long Point just off of the shores of lake Erie on the Canadian side so we get lots of different beautiful birds in our area! Have a great day !

Anvilcloud said...

I think you and birds did well, even if it wasn't the very best day.

Out on the prairie said...

It is fun to compare to others in your area. The map fills in quick with this watch.

Beatrice P. Boyd said...

Thanks Christer, we have quite a few mourning doves, but usually they feed on the ground from the seeds dropped or shaken out of the feeders. This one just flew in and feasted for awhile. I wish that all the starlings, grackles, blackbirds were out in the field and not hogging all the food in the feeders.

Thanks Mona and Costas. Nice to have you visit again, Costas. Sadly, I sometimes fall behind in commenting and will be visiting your blog this week to catch up.

Lois, thanks and the temps were in the upper 50s and since the sun strikes the back porch area it was rather comfortable for Grenville and myself to sit and have a cup of coffee in late afternoon and bird count too.

Hi Elaine (Country Girl) that bird sanctuary would be a great place to take photos and am sure you have done that too.

AC, thanks and while I was disappointed in the lower numbers, it was still nice being outdoors - not that we needed an excuse.

Yes it does Steve, and I'm going to check back at the GBBC count later this week. A few others in this area were also counting.

Alan Burnett said...

That seems like an extraordinary collection. I am sure that if you carried out a similar count in my back-garden you would only see 5 browny-grey things. How nice to visit someone who (according to their side-bar) enjoys good music. I'll be back.

MadSnapper said...

that is a lot of birds, i did not really count, but i did see a buzzard and a dove in my yard, saw a dozen IBIs in the neighbors yard, heard several song birds did not see them

grammie g said...

HI Beatrice...Good for you ...good time spend !!
I'm glad those last 2 listings where in flight!!
Good photos too!!

jennyfreckles said...

We have one of those garden bird counts one weekend in UK too. But not such vivid birds - I love your cardinals.

Beatrice P. Boyd said...

ALen, hello and welcome to our blog. yes, we DO enjoy music and that's why we bought a Sirius radio subscription for both our vehicles and home. For us, it's the radio that's on nearly all the time. (We own TVs, but use them to watch movies.) I will be back to visit your blog(s) too. Please do come again - anytime!

Sandra, it wasn't as many birds as on other days. Late this afternoon when we returned home from the "Y" we counted over a dozen sparrows around the feeders, which unfortunately had been nearly emptied by the unwelcome visitors earlier in the day.

Grammie G. yes we are glad too that the geese and vultures were just flying by cause they would be MOST unwelcome visitors!

Jenny, hello and welcome to our blog. The cardinals are my favorite bird, especially the colorful males. Thanks for the visit and return anytime - we really enjoy drop-ins!

Elaine said...

You had a lot more variety to count than I did, but most of the usual suspects showed up at our feeders during the count, with the exception of the hairy woodpecker.

martymom said...

Great count and photos of the different birds.

Anonymous said...

I missed it again this year. I like all of your photos. I really do miss this assortment of birds. We only have a few. A lot of cardinals though. Three or four males and a lot of females.

H said...

You get a much greater variety of birds than I do. I'm a bit too far into the city to attract the more unusual ones. The most colourful birds to visit my garden are the robin (who is a regular) and the chaffinch (an occasional).

Thanks for dropping in to my blog. It seems that most people agree about shopping malls.

Beatrice P. Boyd said...

Hi Abe, I would have missed it again this year if not for reading about it on a blog (kathiesbirds)which I found from another blog post. Kathie has some great bird images too. Thanks for your visit and comment. Please do drop in again anytime ad I will do the same and revisit your blog- your bird photos are amazing! What equipment do you use?

Beatrice P. Boyd said...

Welcome H - thanks for the visit to my blog as well. I am very glad there are not malls close to this small town we're now living in. Every once in awhile we will go drive to the closest mall area (90 minute drive) however with the price of gas rising, those visits are less and less. Our goal is never really to shop, but just to explore and walk around indoors. And we also enjoy people-watching. Please do revisit again and I will do the same.

Connie said...

Great pictures! This must have been fun to participate in.

Beatrice P. Boyd said...

Yes, Daisy it was fun because we got to sit outdoors on the back porch and talk on a warm afternoon, not to mention bird watch...life is very good.