The Great Backyard Bird Count

Well-the 12th annual Great Backyard Bird Count is history. Feb. 13-16 were the dates of the count. The GBBC is a low key, effortless activity for me. Simply count the birds and enter the data on the GBBC website. I participated on the first and last days of the count and rested for the weekend. And I only counted my feeder and yard birds through my kitchen window (see my previous post of the same name). But it is always good to pay attention and to take stock. I saw the usual chickadees, titmice, woodpeckers (hairy and downy), doves, cardinals, nuthatches (red-breasted and white-breasted), jays, goldfinches, and juncos. European Starlings were present and unwelcome. On the other hand Pine Siskins showed up in abundance and I was happy to see them, even though they are eating me out of house and home. I have waited years to see siskins and I cherish them now that they are here. The surprise of the count was the appearance of two Common Redpolls at my feeder. I surmise that these redpolls had visited the feeder before and I missed them. Not paying attention as I said.

Nationally, over 85,000 checklists have been submitted to date, counting over 600 species and over 10,000,000 birds. Wow. In Vermont a more modest 693 checklists have been submitted, counting 79 species and 39,313 birds. A respectable showing for a small state. Looking down the list of Vermont birds there was an astonishing number of Wild Turkeys (almost 1000) reported and, not surprisingly, a huge number of Pine Siskins (6359 up from 49 in 2008), reflecting the remarkable Pine Siskin irruption this year. A surprise (to me) was the number of Red-bellied Woodpeckers reported (79). Climate change? And am I gloating over the fact that I was the only birder in Vermont to report a Snowy Owl (at Royal Drive in South Burlington) this year? You bet. You can explore all of the results of the GBBC at their website http://www.birdsource.org/gbbc. See you next year for the Great Backyard Bird Count.