Great Backyard Bird Count - Initial Results

Waking up Friday morning to two Crows chatting away in the trees.

Observation Date: FEB 12, 2010
Start Time: 7:00 AM
Snow Depth: Less than 2 in (5.1 cm)
Number of species: 19

Species Count
Canada Goose 100
Mourning Dove 45
Red-bellied Woodpecker 2
Downy Woodpecker 2
Hairy Woodpecker 1
Blue Jay 6
American Crow 3
Black-capped Chickadee 4
Red-breasted Nuthatch 1
White-breasted Nuthatch 1
Northern Mockingbird 1 (rare visitor, so we are happy it was here for the count)
European Starling 5
American Tree Sparrow 2
Dark-eyed Junco 13
Northern Cardinal 9
Brown-headed Cowbird 20
House Finch 7
American Goldfinch 14
House Sparrow 2

Also observed: Large Coyote at 7:10 a.m. out front.

Observation Date: FEB 13, 2010

Start Time: 8:00 AM
Snow Depth: Less than 2 in (5.1 cm)
Number of species: 20

Species Count
Canada Goose 11
Red-tailed Hawk 1
Mourning Dove 45
Red-bellied Woodpecker 2
Downy Woodpecker 3
Hairy Woodpecker 2
Blue Jay 10
American Crow 1
Black-capped Chickadee 6
Red-breasted Nuthatch 1
White-breasted Nuthatch 2
Brown Creeper 1 (just recently showing up in yard, so we are happy it was here for the count)
European Starling 15
American Tree Sparrow 4 (highest recorded # this season)
Dark-eyed Junco 9
Northern Cardinal 12 (highest recorded # this season)
Brown-headed Cowbird 25
House Finch 15
American Goldfinch 20
House Sparrow 3

Male cardinal, House Finch, Gold Finch and Downy Woodpecker all at the feeder.


Observation Date: FEB 14, 2010
Start Time: 8:00 AM
Snow Depth: Less than 2 in (5.1 cm)

Number of species: 18

Species Count
Cooper's Hawk 1
Mourning Dove 57
Red-bellied Woodpecker 1
Downy Woodpecker 3
Hairy Woodpecker 2
Blue Jay 6
Black-capped Chickadee 3
Red-breasted Nuthatch 1
White-breasted Nuthatch 2
Northern Mockingbird 1
European Starling 5
American Tree Sparrow 2
Dark-eyed Junco 4
Northern Cardinal 4
Brown-headed Cowbird 10
House Finch 4
American Goldfinch 37
House Sparrow 5

Also Observed: small opossum eating spilled seed at approximately 7 p.m.



Northern Mockingbird



Cooper's Hawk

Observation Date: FEB 15, 2010

Start Time: 8:00 AM
Snow Depth: Less than 2 in (5.1 cm)
Number of species: 22

Species Count
Canada Goose 50
Sharp-shinned Hawk 1
Cooper's Hawk 1
Red-tailed Hawk 1 (the only day we saw saw all three regular hawks)
Mourning Dove 10
Red-bellied Woodpecker 2
Downy Woodpecker 3
Hairy Woodpecker 2
Blue Jay 11
American Crow 2
Black-capped Chickadee 6
Red-breasted Nuthatch 1
White-breasted Nuthatch 2
Brown Creeper 1
European Starling 11
American Tree Sparrow 2
Dark-eyed Junco 9
Northern Cardinal 11
Brown-headed Cowbird 20
House Finch 5
American Goldfinch 34
House Sparrow 10

We did not surpass our record high species count from last year of 22. Missing from this year's count are Robins (two of which we saw this morning- where were you yesterday???), Pine Siskins and Redpolls. New for our count this year are the Brown Creeper and Northern Mockingbird.

All the counts have to be submitted by March 1st, so I'm looking forward to comparing our data with others in the area.

We managed to see all three hawks again, even after not seeing any the first day and only Red-Tailed the second day. Thankfully Sharpie made a last minute appearance on Monday.

Cooper's spent quite a bit of time walking around the front yard and sticking his beak into the wood pile, checking to see who was hiding out in there.