Do you like watching birds?

[Stephanie]

The annual Great Backyard Bird Count starts tomorrow through February 20;

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

I did this last year and it was alot of fun. I felt like I really contributed something!

[arkess7]

I love watching birds!!!! I have 2 bird feeders in my yard.....and a squirrel feeder on a huge oak tree out front.

Cool site! Thanks Stephanie!

[MiamiensisWx]

Yep, I do! I might be going on a bird outing tomorrow!

[CajunMama]

I have dogs and a cat....birds don't dare venture into my yard!

[MiamiensisWx]

I have dogs and a cat....birds don't dare venture into my yard!

[breeze]

That's cool, Steph! I have a birdfeeder in the front yard, and, one in the
back yard. I like to sit at the kitchen table and drink my coffee on weekend
mornings, and, watch the different songbirds visit the one in back.

[arkess7]

I have dogs and a cat....birds don't dare venture into my yard!

Mama I have 3 cats and a dog!!!!!!! I have the feeders in my front yard though.....and my cats are night owls so doesnt matter much..........I can still watch my birds...

[Stephanie]

I just counted in my backyard before leaving to go to work 5 juncos, 2 Canadian Geese flying overhead and 4 hawks soaring high above looking for breakfast. I'm not sure what kind of hawk they were, but I can probably look at other local counts later to determine what they put down.

I'm also going to get counts of the birds I see here in Atlantic City when I go out for a smoke break.

I'll submit my entries later tonight when I get home. I have to fill my bird feeder tomorrow.

If anyone else participates, post how many birds you saw, when and the type.


The cool thing is that it's easy and anyone can do it. It's really neat to see the counts and type

[azsnowman]

I "LOVE" watching birds......we buy OVER 75lbs. of seed a MONTH during the winter, even with this winter being SNOWLESS we STILL have a TON of birds at the feeders, Blue Jays, English Sparrows, Nut Hatches and Flickers.

Dennis

Thanks for the link Stephanie!

[arkess7]

This morning there was a flock of loud noisy black crows in the trees.....and as always I saw the husband and wife cardinals (did you know they mate for life?) That's why I call them hubby and wife. And those little brown chickadee birds and the ground feeders the brown doves. I see mocking birds all the time too but they dont eat the seed they eat bugs and such.

[Stephanie]

So far in AC (where the wind is a blowin' ), I saw two gulls, 2 sparrows, 3 starling type birds (they're not jet black - they have brown in their wing. I only see them down here so I have to look them up) and about 18 pidgeons.

I've seen alot of the same types of birds that you arkess and Dennis have seen around my home on different occassions. Last year I had counted nuthatches, juncos, chickadees, sparrows, mourning doves, blue jays and cardinals. When I put more food out in the feeder tomorrow I should see alot more in my backyard. We also have a woodpecker that shows up on occassion (I hear him all of the time). I hope I see him for this count.

I'm glad that I did post this information here for other fellow birders.

[azsnowman]

LOL @ the woodpeckers We have a neighborhood pecker that LOVES to peck at the "Spark Arresters" on TOP of the woodstove pipes, IDIOT You hear something aliken to a machine gun going off, look around and there he IS....pecking AWAY at the metal cap

Dennis

[Skywatch_NC]

While living in Roanoke Rapids, NC we had a neighborhood woodpecker that would peck houses...including OUR'S on occasion!! We had a neighbor named Hattie who would sit in a lawn chair on pretty days in her backyard with a BB gun in hand to try to scare if off! Whenever we heard the bird pecking our house we'd rap on a window(s) to scare it off!

Eric

[Stephanie]

I actually saw a red-bellied wood pecker go after some bird seed that was knocked to the ground by the squirrels! That was really strange. I have heard alot about woodpeckers pecking at some strange stuff.

Well, I did enter three observations today. Grand total 5 dark-eyed juncos, 27 Canadian geese, 4 red-tailed hawks, 18 rock pidgeons, 3 European starlings (they DO have brown on their wings - I was confusing them with the crows) and 2 song sparrows.

Sometimes, the most difficult part is determining the type of a species. The hawks were all circling above so I couldn't get a good look at the coloring, but the most common hawk we have around here are red-tailed. The sparrows can be difficult too but I think that they were song sparrows. Hey, at least I have the species correct!

[arkess7]

This evening I heard the huge owl that lives in our neighbors trees hooting. He or she has been hooting alot lately at night. Maybe she has a baby or something. This past summer at dusk me and my daughter were sitting outside on our deck by the pool and the owl flew over us. We heard the hootin' first then it flew over......its a HUGE owl.........very beautiful. I love owls......I think its a barnyard owl not sure....brown and big and awesome!!!!!!!! I love owls!

[Stephanie]

There's an owl that lives in my area as well - I hear it hooting all night long (when it's warm and the windows are open). There was one time I did see an owl fly out of the trees in my development when I was on my way to work. It had a white face , but I can't remember the body color. It was probably brown but not that big.

[Stephanie]

Okay, so I put bird seed out this morning and I'm waiting, rather impatiently, for my first guests. I know it does take a while for them to come around, but I want to see what species I'll get today.

Did anyone else submit a checklist?

[Stephanie]

NOTHING yesterday...I think that they were all napping. Plus it was a very windy day.

Anyway, they were out this morning - and so were the squirrels. I was hoping my local red-bellied woodpecker would show up and he did! Also I counted 2 juncos and 2 blue jays.

I counted earlier this morning 7 juncos and 3 mourning doves, but I wanted to make sure I had the woodpecker in my count, so I submitted my second observation.

[SouthFloridawx]

I "LOVE" watching birds......we buy OVER 75lbs. of seed a MONTH during the winter, even with this winter being SNOWLESS we STILL have a TON of birds at the feeders, Blue Jays, English Sparrows, Nut Hatches and Flickers.

Dennis

Thanks for the link Stephanie!

Flicker is the name of my old boss... what was he or his family doing in your bird feeders?

[Dee Bee]

Speaking of flickers, for the past few weeks, we've had one in the 3 palms which frame our front bay and regular windows. I'd never seen this species so close up before!

Our subdivision is one street which encircles a "lake" (more like a pond) with 32 homes backing up as waterfront property. Since Wilma, we've had much more bird activity, especially large blue herons, the very large egrets with the "curly" feathers, ibises, and others. I've heard some beautiful birdsongs that are new to me, as well.

I've always been interested in learning more about birding, but this thread has boosted my curiosity. Thanks, friends!