Welcome to the 2014 Daily Kos Backyard Science Yardbird Race! This is the 5th tally for 2014 and is the official place to post your sightings, ask for help, and brag some if you wish. All of the fine print can be found way below under the pile of squiggly orange bird poop.
Here's what the race is all about:
The Daily Kos Backyard Science Yardbird Race is a birding competition where, over the course of one year, participants strive to identify the most bird species - by sight and/or by sound - from the confines of their yards.
There are a number of categories, so people who live in urban centers don't have to compete against others who have a lot of open space or waterfront views. We're adding a new category this tally - COLLEGE CAMPUS - which is open for people who spend a good part of their time in such a locale. Please let us know if you'd like to participate but find yourself not fitting into an established category - we'll work out one for you!
The Categories:
~College Campus NEW!
~Urban apartment or condo
~Urban attached (townhouse, rowhouse)
~Urban detached
~Suburban
~Rural <5 acres
~Rural >5 acres
~Waterfront (trumps any of the above...)
~Classroom Project
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Welcome to Joieau, from western North Carolina, who jumped into the RURAL >5 ACRES category for the first time last tally. Good luck and may the birds be with you! 31 people have sent in at least one report so far this year, with 25 continuing to be active.
Big thanks to matching mole, who updated everyone sightings in the Yardbird Birdlist spreadsheet. Let me know via kosmail if you'd like to join the recording effort, or if you might like to play around with the info we've got so far.
As always, please let me know if I missed you last month, or if anything else needs correcting. Note, too, that the final counts for those who have participated in previous races are in parentheses after their names. Remember that all returning racers are competing against themselves this season, too.
Here's where we stand:
URBAN ATTACHED
1. lineatus (44) ... San Francisco, CA ... 20
We haven't heard from lineatus for a bit - this month perhaps?
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APARTMENT OR CONDO
1. Benny Toothpick (27)... Carrboro, NC ... 23
2. aaroninsandiego (21)... San Diego CA ... 15
3. Lenny Flank (new) ... St Pete, FL ... 4
Not much changed in the APARTMENT OR CONDO category last tally; Benny Toothpick and aaroninsandiego both added two birds and remain in first and second place. Newcomer Lenny Flank, has, I think, 4 birds, with three new additions. (Lenny, could you post an official tally this month so we're sure to get your birds listed?)
There's only one bird common to all three: American Crow; Yellow-rumped Warblers and Mourning Doves were also present on both the east coast; while so far the easterners share Blue JAys and Northern Mockingbirds. Hat's off to aaroninsandiego for spotting the category's first House Sparrow of this year!
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RURAL <5ACRES
1. PHScott ... (32, 38) ... west of Tallahassee ... 36
2 (tie). most awesome nana (48)... NE PA ... 32
2 (tie). Attack Gardener (new) ... Saratoga County NY ... 32
PHScott is holding on to his lead in this strongly Eastern group, and even though he's very close to breaking his all-time record, he better watch his back. Attack Gardener pulled in seven new birds last tally, and is now tied with most awesome nana for a second place that's only four birds behind first place.
There's a lot of sighting overlap in this group, so I'll just pull out three of their common species and list the first sighting dates, south to north - FLA, PA, NY.
Carolina Wren: Feb 2; Feb 1; Jan 26
Turkey Vulture: Feb 2; Feb 1; Mar 15
Canada Goose: Feb 18; Apr 4; Mar 22
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RURAL >5ACRES
1. burnt out (73, 75)... middle MO ... 49
2. ninety wt (new) ... central MS ... 25
3. Joieau (new) ... W. North Carolina ... 19
burnt out has a commanding lead here, and looks to be well on his way to pushing past his record 75 species recorded last year. Joieau jumped in last month with 19 so, so there may well be a race for second. ninety wt missed the tally last month, but remains in second. Here's hoping they report in this time.
Participants in the RURAL >5ACRES category are clustered in the southeast quadrant of the country. I'll wait a month before listing first dates here to let Joieau catch up a bit.
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URBAN DETACHED
1. greycat (new)... Portland, OR ... 30
2. bwren (50, 41)... Seattle WA ... 29
3. billybush (35)... Omaha NE ... 12
It's neck and neck between Cat and Wren in URBAN DETACHED now. greycat continues to hold on to first place from their perch in PDX. bwren, north in SEA came sooo close to catching up last tally, with seven new birds, but remains in second. billybush is racing against his old record now, and is about one third of the way to matching his 2013 total. Send wishes for good birds to land in Omaha.
billybush lives right about the center of the country. greycat and bwren hail from the PNW. One would think that the "center vs west" lists would be quite different, but there a lot of overlap when billybush's list is compared with the PNWestern lists. American Crow, Black-capped Chickadee, Robin, Dark-eyed Junco, House Finch and House Sparrow are all common to each list.
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SUBURBAN
1. AZ Sphinxmoth (43)... Baja, AZ ... 53 (new personal record!)
2. lorell (36) ... Sugarland, TX ... 37 (new personal record!)
3. chantedor (46) ... Paradise, CA ... 31
4. enhydra lutris (40, 47) ... Castro Valley NOCA ... 30
5. DarkHawk98 (new)... Bella Vista AR ... 27
6. 6412093 (20)... NW Oregon ... 20 (tied personal record!)
7. barbwires (24) ... Alexandria VA ... 14
First off, congratulations to AZ Sphinxmoth and lorell for breaking their previous count records! Also note that 6412093 has matched his 2013 record and it's only April... Kudos, all!
We noted last month the missing common birds in Suburbia belong to lorell, who had yet to see a Robin, and to AZ Sphinxmoth, who hadn't seen the most ubiquitous of the Yardbird species, the American Crow. That has not changed.
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WATERFRONT
1. political mutt (53, 65) ... Sandhills NC ... 66
2. Mark Sumner (69) ... Hillsboro, MO ... 52
3. Polly Syllabic (100, 102) ... Gooseville WI ... 51
4. Milly Watt (67, 75) ... Olympic Peninsula WA ... 50
5. matching mole (78, 79) ... Tallahassee FL ... 49
6. Dr. Arcadia (78) ... thumb of MI ... 43
7. nom de plume (new) ... Upper Kitsap Peninsula WA ... 42
8. OceanDiver (71) ... Lopez IS WA ... 40
9. wood gas (new) ... Prince of Wales IS AK ... 29
Another record broken! political mutt has broken their personal record! Congratulations!
March brought a pile of new birds to four out of the nine participants with a WATERFRONT vista: a whopping 21 new species each for frontrunners political mutt, Mark Sumner, and Polly Syllabic, and 17 for Dr. Arcadia, who now sits in 6th place. Slowpokes include matching mole, down in the lower right hand corner of the country with four new birds, as well as all of the PNWesterners - Milly Watt, nom de plume, and OceanDiver - and wood gas, our most northern participant, none of which tallied more than nine new species for the month. This may well change this tally.
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I'm realizing that so far I've not utilized the new Yardbird Birdlist spreadsheet in the best way. I'm hoping to remedy that next tally, perhaps by using maps to track first sightings regionally rather than by category. I've also set up a new group, Backyard Bird Racers, which will include all of the active participants once I get on it today. Current participants, look for an invite. If you're just discovering the race, jump into the comments with your info. We'll send you an invite as soon as we find you! If nothing else, it will be a convenient place to announce tally dates, but I'd like everyone to be able to access the information we've gathered so far. More eyes/brains might bring better ways to analyze what we're all seeing.
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Tally Updates
Be kind to your record keeper. For ease of keeping track of everyone's lists, please post your tallies in the following manner:
Your location, as close as you are comfortable revealing.
Your yard category.
Number of species seen so far, including your other tallies if you have any.
List of birds seen, dated if you wish.
Any comments you have about your sightings.
The 6th tally of the 2014 Backyard Science Yardbird Race is now open! You all know what to do. I'll be here most of the morning, though probably not before 9AM PDT, and into the early afternoon. Mid-afternoon will take me out for my shift on the 2014 Forest Barred Owlet watch. Back around dinner. Have fun. May all of your birds be good ones!
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"Green Diary Rescue" is posted every Saturday at 1:00 pm Pacific Time on the Daily Kos front page. Green Diary Rescue has been good to Backyard Science, so take a minute to recommend, comment, and then link to your other off-Kos groups.
Details and the fine print.
You'll be listing the number of bird species that you find from the confines of your yard between January 1 and December 31, 2014. You can list a bird if you see or hear it while you are somewhere in your yard. If you live in an apartment or condo building your "yard" includes the property on which the building is located. Note that a "yard" includes your living quarters. So, you can list the owl that wakes you at 2am, but you can't list the Flamingo you see in your neighbor's side yard while driving home if you cannot see it from any place in your yard after you get out of your car. You can, however, walk around to your neighbor's side yard to ID a bird that you have initially seen or heard from the confines of your own yard.
You may list domestic chickens, but only as the generic "domestic chicken". Feral parrots and budgies may also be listed, but only as the generic "feral parrot". Pet birds, other captive birds and birds kept for hunting don't count, but wandering peafowl are fair game.
There are no rules about ladders and fences. With the exception of utilizing recorded bird calls, which is strongly discouraged, there are also no rules about making your yard more bird-attractive than the competition's.
Once again, here are the yard categories:
~College Campus NEW!
~Urban apartment or condo
~Urban attached (townhouse, rowhouse)
~Urban detached
~Suburban
~Rural <5 acres
~Rural >5 acres
~Waterfront (trumps any of the above...)
~Classroom Project