WooHoo, Great Backyard Bird Count 2015! 02/13/2015 - 02/15/2015
The Daily Bucket is a regular feature of the Backyard Science group. It is a place to note any observations you have made of the world around you. Insects, weather, meteorites, climate, birds and/or flowers. All are worthy additions to the bucket. Please let us know what is going on around you in a comment. Include, as close as is comfortable for you, where you are located. Each note is a record that we can refer to in the future as we try to understand the patterns that are quietly unwinding around us.
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Classic Old School Citizen Science
Wherever You Feel Like
Continued below the orange hummingbird fight
The basic idea is pretty simple. You count all of the birds of each type you see for 15 minutes or more in some location, and then report the location, time spent and number of each type of bird spotted. As many times per day and as many days as you like in as many locations as you like. One report per session.
There is a ton of info about this at birdcount.org home page and related pages. Clicking on the "Get Started" heading brings up the following:
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 GBBC BirdLog 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.
and more. There are links to downloadable detailed instructions, how to slide shows, Help, FAQs, Bird Lists, an Online Bird Guide (Cornell's All About Birds), Birding Apps and more.
Merlin for Android and iOS is available for free. You can also get the dedicated GBBC App which assists in the submission of data for free. I used it last year and it was pretty cool. The Merlin App is both good and bad. You answer 5 questions and it pops up a list of the most likely birds for your time and location based on e-bird data. That can be useful, but also too limited, depending upon circumstances.
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"Spotlight on Green News & Views" will be posted every Saturday at 1:00 pm Pacific Time and every Wednesday at 3:30 Pacific Time on the Daily Kos front page. Be sure to recommend and comment in the diary.
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Also check out Climate Action Hub diaries, Sundays at 4:30 pm Pacific Time
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Now It's Your Turn What have you noted happening in your area or travels? As usual post your observations as well as their general location in the comments.
Thank you.