This is a follow on diary about a fun real science project you can do at home in very little time. To learn more about The Great Back Yard Bird Count sponsored by Cornell University and the Audubon Society read Citizen Science, This Weekend, Do It , by enhydra lutis,and follow or join us at the Birds and Birdwatching Group. Or go directly to university's easy to use website HERE.
I spent this afternoon counting birds so I thought I would post my results and comment on the experience and invite you to likewise. If you didn't count today there are three more days left and I encourage you to hit the field and have some fun for yourselves.
Many bird species are in sharp decline and one of the first steps to developing plans to help our winged friends is to know more about the developing patterns. That's were you come in. Remember you can do this in as little as 15 minutes and make a real contribution to our knowledge about present bird populations.
This was my first Great Back Yard Bird Count or for that matter any official bird count. I'm not much of a note taker. I don't regularly count or even make notes about the birds I see except to make additions to my life list. So that part was a new experience as well and was harder than I thought. I learned that the birds don't exactly sit still and wait for you to count them.
I live on a boat in a marina in the middle of several interconnected parks that stretch 5 miles or so though the Olympia saltwater water-front which is called Budd Bay. Then along Capital Lake and it's main tributary the Deschutes River and finally ending above the dramatic Tumwater Falls in the adjoining city of Tumwater. There is salt water, fresh water lakes and ponds, marshes, riparian and estuary, park lawns, deciduous shrubs and trees, a few evergreens, and urban street zones. A little something for a lot of species.
My backyard is literally populated with ducks which I find peaceful to watch swim. I began the count here in the marina with a mixed flock (flotilla) of Barrows Golden Eyes, Mergansers, (all three kinds) and Pied Bill Grebes right off the float where I live. There is a handy capped man who feeds stale bread to the gulls and crows every afternoon so I counted his gathered flock up by the front gate and then worked my way around the rest of the salt water zone today. For a birdwatcher I live in a wonderful place. Birds are all around all the time.
I got started late because I was hoping the rain would quit but it didn't so finally there was nothing to do but get out in it. A very cold rain I might add. I left at 2PM and took 2.5 hours. The rain slowed me down of course because I had to keep drying the binocs and scope and I was surprised at how much longer it takes to count and tally rather than just to watch the birds. I often do this route in about 1.5 hours.
The largest sailboat race of the year happens this weekend and lots of beautiful, expensive, boats were making their way into port all afternoon which was also and added attraction.
The diving ducks made a great showing today. Most of the migratory freshwater dabbling ducks have taken advantage of a series of southerly storms and headed back to their northern summer grounds on strong tail-winds. Barrows Golden Eyes and the Merganser crowd were some of the last migrants to arrive in the fall and are still sticking around. The Buffleheads were the first to arrive and although there are fewer,they are staying later also. I think they mostly breed in Canada and don't have so far to travel.
It took no more than 15 minutes to enter the data. As you can see you enter all the data for one zip code. I had separated my count between East and West Bays but didn't need to do that. I did hear one Blackbird singing and so counted that. Hearing is OK but obviously you need to be careful about counting the same bird over or missing that there is more than one. Since it was only one bird and I never saw it, it was a valid count. If the tide was out there would have been hundreds of gulls and crows foraging on the mud flats so they are very much under represented and I'll try to do that area again in the next days on a low tide. No pictures today because of the weather.
Finally it was fun and I intend to count other locations over the next three days. Give it a try. How often do you get a chance to do actual science even if it is to actually count just your backyard.
As always Happy Birding! And remember to check us out at Birds and Birdwatching.
Locality: Olympia, Thurston County, WA
Observation Date: FEB 18, 2011
Email:
Start Time: 2:00 PM
Snow Depth: No snow was present
Total Birding Time: 2 hours 30 minutes
Location Type: City or County Park
Party Size: 1
Skill: excellent
Weather: fair
Habitat(s):
salt water
Number of species: 23
All Reported: yes
Species Count
Canada Goose 2
Mallard 3
Surf Scoter 10
Bufflehead 22
Barrow's Goldeneye 48
Hooded Merganser 6
Common Merganser 7
Red-breasted Merganser 7
Pied-billed Grebe 2
Double-crested Cormorant 20
Great Blue Heron 1
Dunlin 100
Ring-billed Gull 3
Western x Glaucous-winged Gull (hybrid) 1
Glaucous-winged Gull 40
gull sp. 11
Rhinoceros Auklet 2
Rock Pigeon 30
Belted Kingfisher 3
American Crow 11
American Robin 1
European Starling 14
Red-winged Blackbird 1
Comments:
Steady light rain, Temp 41F, Wind Calm, High Tide, which dramatically lowered gull and crow count. Count included the the east shoreline of West Bay from the 5th ave. Bridge to North Point on Port of Olympia property and all of East bay from State Ave to North Point which is all Port property and the surrounding landscape such as street trees, parking lots, and structures.
Updated by YellerDog at Sat Feb 19, 2011, 01:25:38 AM
Here is an e-mail I got from a local list serve about the count. It has good information, especially if you have an usual siting. The e-mail address if for WA only but if you find something uncommon to your area he should be able to steer you in the right direction.
Lets help break 100,000. Sounds like a plan to me.
Fri, February 18, 2011 8:02:26 AM
[Tweeters] A note on GBBC reviews
...
From:
Scott Downes
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Add to Contacts
To: tweeters@u.washington.edu
3454703857.txt (1KB)
Tweets,
As many are aware the Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC) starts today and goes through Monday. Organizers are hoping that this year participants finally break over the 100,000 list submission mark! Data entry is easy (similar to ebird) and it gives everyone an excuse to do some birding this weekend. I am once again doing the statewide review of the sightings. Similar to ebird reviews or CBC reviews, it is merely a gentle filter to make sure that unusual birds and numbers of birds are accurate. So, here is my plea to all: If you find something unusual, you can save time on the reviewing end by taking a picture or good notes of the bird. As with any review, my asking isn't challenging the sighting but to require some details to accept a great sighting into the database. Unusual birds and numbers are out there to be found and if people can do a little leg work when they find that good sighting it will save me time and give me more time to actually get out and bird! Unusual sightings would typically be either an unusual species for that area (American tree sparrow in Seattle), unusual numbers (15 purple finches in Ellensburg) or unusual timing of the species (barn swallows this weekend). Note that any of the examples could occur, they are just not the norm and thus need to be documented.
Thanks to all and happy counting!
Scott Downes
downess@charter.net
Yakima WA