The next Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC) will take place February 13 to 16. Please mark these dates on your calendar.

 The Great Backyard Bird Count is a joint project of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and the National Audubon Society. This is a free event and provides an opportunity for families, students and people of all ages to discover the wonders of nature in backyards, schoolyards and local parks and, at the same time, makes an important contribution to conservation. Participants count birds and report their sightings on-line at www.birdcount.org.

 If you do not have a computer, please call your results in to me at 766-4642 and I will make sure that your observations get entered. I will need your postal code, a description of habitat and also the time that you spent on the count and number of each species that you observed.

 The Great Backyard Bird Count benefits both birds and people and is a great example of citizen science. Anyone can take part, from a novice birdwatcher to experts. You can count birds for as little as 15 minutes or as long as you wish on one or more days of the event. If you have a computer you can also see what others are finding in your own area or thousands of miles away. There are also tips on-line to help identify birds, a photo gallery and special materials for educators. Your data will help researchers understand bird population trends and supply information that is critical for effective conservation. The count provides a comprehensive picture of where birds are in late winter and how their numbers and distribution compare with previous years. In 2008, participants submitted 85,000 checklists.

 Businesses, schools, nature clubs, Scout troops and other community organizations interested in the GBBC can contact the Cornell Lab of Ornithology at 607-254-2473 or Audubon at 215-355-9588, ext. 16.

 Quite a few northern flickers have shown up recently and Diane Cook of Bridgewater was pleased to see one. David Walmark discovered one northern flicker and two yellow-rumped warblers at Conrads Island in Lower Rose Bay. Bill Snyder has a red-winged blackbird visiting his feeder at Mahone Bay and one of these birds is still in Lunenburg. Charlene MacDonald has at least six common grackles, with two of them coming regularly to her feeders at First South.

 Barry Loker of Lunenburg reports lots of dark-eyed juncos and American goldfinches. He also has two purple finches and American tree sparrows. Shirley Cohrs and Sylvia Fullerton found a grey jay at Indian Path and black-headed gulls and Bonaparte gulls at Conrads Island in Lower Rose Bay. Sylvia saw two red knots, a ruddy turnstone and two killdeer at Cherry Hill Beach.

 The Broad Cove Christmas Bird Count produced 80 species with highlights of killdeer, a razorbill, a short-eared owl, a red-throated loon, a northern goshawk, an American kestrel, a black-bellied plover, a dovekie, dunlins and a common murre. A red-bellied woodpecker was also a treat and totally unexpected. A snowy owl on Crescent Beach was a one-day wonder, which was discovered by Lize Bell and Shirley Cohrs.

 The Lunenburg Christmas Bird Count on January 3 produced 88 species. There were many highlights of which a few are Atlantic puffin, pine warbler, yellow-breasted chat, a lark sparrow, two rusty blackbirds, four northern shrikes, a northern goshawk, a rough-legged hawk, a broad-winged hawk, a lesser black-backed gull and a ruby-crowned kinglet.

 More American widgeons were found than ever before and over 2,000 Bohemian waxwings were observed. Robert Parkinson had about 100 Bohemian waxwings for a few days at Princes Inlet Drive. These birds gorged themselves on rotten apples and small black berries, possibly mulberries. He also reports two northern flickers, a merlin and a red-tailed hawk.

 John Robart also observed some Bohemian waxwings and has a white-breasted nuthatch at his feeder in Dayspring. He saw more than 200 Canada geese at Crescent Beach.

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 You may reach me at jrhbirder@hotmail.com or phone 766-4642.

posted on 01/13/09