Sunday, February 26, 2012

GBBC Bird Count

Since Bob asked how many birds I ended up counting, I figured I might as well make a post about it...

First, the notes:
  1. I didn't do the count on Friday (I wasn't home) and Saturday because I was too busy getting ready for a party we had that night.
  2. I am lazy about putting bird food out during the week so it's not uncommon for me to put food out on a Saturday morning, and not really see a variety of birds until Sunday morning.
  3. During the GBBC, I had put out food on Wednesday (so by Sunday it was all gone), and I didn't refill the feeders until Sunday morning.
  4. I only counted birds for half an hour on Sunday and double that on Monday (though honestly I kept looking throughout the day on Sunday and there just weren't that many different birds.
  5. Sunday's count was birds at the feeders (or otherwise close to them), whereas Monday's count was birds in the yard - Grackles and Red Bellied Woodpeckers have never come to any of the feeders, but will sometimes hang out in the yard.

Second, the meat:
On Sunday (7 types):
  • Yellow Rumped Warbler
  • White Wing Dove
  • European Starling
  • Blue Jay
  • Northern Cardinal
  • House Finch
  • Downy Woodpecker
On Monday (15 types):
  • Yellow Rumped Warbler
  • White Wing Dove
  • European Starling
  • Blue Jay
  • Northern Cardinal
  • House Finch
  • Downy Woodpecker
  • Mockingbird
  • Rufous Hummingbird
  • Carolina Chickadee
  • Dark Eyed Junco
  • Lesser Goldfinch
  • Red Bellied Woodpecker
  • Grackle
  • American Goldfinch

6 comments:

Rohrerbot said...

Sounds like a lot of same birds we have around here. The warblers take some searching and I haven't had any in my backyard in Tucson...but I've seen plenty of them this season.

Caroline said...

I just looked up Yellow Rumped Warbler and Dark Eyed Junco -- I get the sparrow-like birds all mixed up. I've actually seen a Red Bellied Woodpecker at our tallest, squarest bird feeder, they must be hungry!

Bond said...

It is fascinating to me the differences in birds between our houses. We are relatively close, but I guess our area is more "plains" whereas you are more "deciduous". I have never seen a white wing dove here, but we have lots of mourning doves.

Rock rose said...

Wow, you really do have some birds in your garden. European starling- really, here in Austin? Have never seen one of those.

Anonymous said...

Are you in Central Austin? We just moved here and would like to set out feeders, but we're overwhelmed by grackles.

katina said...

@Anonymous - I'm in NW Austin. I luckily haven't had any grackles (just the starlings). You can try using a small tube feeder - the grackles may be too big to use it efficiently.