Sunday, February 15, 2009

Great Backyard Bird Count

Yesterday I participated in the Great Backyard Bird Count. Although the rules are fairly lax in regards to what "backyard" means for the count, I decided to be traditional yesterday and count just the birds observed in my backyard. It wasn't too hard. About 12:30 in the afternoon a male Hairy Woodpecker stopped by the suet feeder for a snack. He was the first and last bird I observed in the yard all day.
Today I am going to expand the definition of "backyard".

4 comments:

Julie Zickefoose said...

No data is still data--repeat until you feel better.

John, your header photo is absolutely ravishing. What's the birdie?

John Carlson said...

It got even worse yesterday - no birds in the backyard. At least Dad and I were able to get out and look around down by the river where we found many more species and individuals. Today has been better in my yard with at least a few species showing up.
The bird on the header is a Pintado or Cape Petrel. The photo was taken at Deception Island and the bird was on its nest tucked up in a hole underneath a rock. Glad you like it.

Julie Zickefoose said...

I knew there was no way I could place it--it wasn't a gull, and with that checkered plumage I was at sea, so to speak. Now that you name it of course I think I should have guessed it. Stumping the Science Chimp! It's glorious.

John Carlson said...

Wow, I never thought about it that way but I did stump the Science Chimp didn't I!! Looks like I joined a rather exclusive club.