Bird Photos/Great Backyard Bird Count is Coming!

Welcome back and as always thank you for visiting my blog.

It's hard to believe, but the Project FeederWatch season, which runs from mid-November to mid-April, is nearing the half way point.  For those of you unfamiliar with Project FeederWatch, refer to my post of November 4, 2015 (http://dansgardening.blogspot.com/2015/11/its-time-for-project-feederwatch.html).  There is still time to sign up and participate in this very worthwhile citizen science project.  I will discuss the Great Backyard Bird Count, which begins on February 12th, later in this post.

So far during this bird watching season, I have captured some nice bird photos.  I posted some of the photos in my post of January 3, 2015 (http://dansgardening.blogspot.com/2016/01/bird-photoshappy-new-year.html).  Below are some more for your enjoyment:

Northern Cardinal

Mourning Doves

Blue Jay

The Great Backyard Bird Count is Only Two Week Away!

This bird count is fun to participate in and is a great family activity.  Unlike Project FeederWatch, it only lasts for four days.   I have been participating for four or five years.  It's very simple to get started, the following is taken from the website (http://gbbc.birdcount.org).

Join Us for the Next Count, February 12-15, 2016

 It’s as easy as 1, 2, 3!

1. Register for the count or use your existing login name and password. If you have never participated in the Great Backyard Bird Count or any other Cornell Lab citizen-science project, you’ll need to create a new account. If you already created an account for last year’s GBBC, or if you’re already registered with eBird or another Cornell Lab citizen-science project, you can use your existing login information.

2. Count birds for at least 15 minutes on one or more days of the GBBC. You can count for longer than that if you wish! Count birds in as many places and on as many days as you like—one day, two days, or all four days. Submit a separate checklist for each new day, for each new location, or for the same location if you counted at a different time of day. Estimate the number of individuals of each species you saw during your count period.

3. Enter your results on the GBBC website by clicking “Submit Observations” on the home page. Or download the free eBird Mobile app to enter data on a mobile device. If you already participate in the eBird citizen-science project, please use eBird to submit your sightings during the GBBC. Your checklists will count toward the GBBC.

Until next time.  Still to come in future posts, blight resistant tomato strains, winter sowing, seed selection for 2016,  hydroponic gardening, and much more.