Northern Flicker. Carved by Bob Spear; photographed by Museum staff.
As usual, we keep track of birds seen through the window with notes on a white board by the window (see the list below). We had a couple of less-usual species sighted this month, including both year-round residents (just not usually observed from the window) and migratory species.
As usual, we keep track of birds seen through the window with notes on a white board (see the list below). This month, we also had a lovely furry special guest…
Brown Creeper, wood carving by Robert N. Spear, Jr.
Many thanks to the MP and MP, two regular volunteers with the same initials, who help us participate in community science programs. They have been here almost every Tuesday to record birds for Feederwatch and eBird… and to note birds on the white board by the window (see the list below).
When you go birding, take note of your observations! Every record you contribute is part of important community science and large data monitoring for conservation! One record at a time may not feel like much, but they add up into incredibly useful data. You might enjoy reading “9 Ways People Have Used eBird Data to Make Conservation Happen.” (Ed. note: Let me know of more recent conservation successes based on bird data, and I’ll add that info to next month’s post!)
Learn to ID birds — what do we look or listen for?
Go birding with a friend — twice the fun!
Find out more about and record observations for this great community science project.
We’re open from 10-4 on Saturday for the GBBC
Members admission: Free!
About the GBBC:
Friday – Monday, February 14-17, 2025 • All Over the World
From the Great Backyard Bird Count website:
Launched in 1998 by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and National Audubon Society, the Great Backyard Bird Count was the first online citizen-science project to collect data on wild birds and to display results in near real-time.
Since then, more than 100,000 people of all ages and walks of life have joined the four-day count each February to create an annual snapshot of the distribution and abundance of birds.
Friday – Monday, February 14-17, 2025 • All Over the World
Whether you are with a friend or on your own, watching one bird or counting hundreds, join a worldwide community-science and conservation project! All you have to do is observe for 15 minutes and submit your observation(s). Here are few details from https://www.birdcount.org/participate/ :
December is often a month of vacations and fewer observations. It’s also a properly winter month (usually), which means our birds lists can be a bit shorter than usual. But enjoy the year-round residents with us!
You’d think that being “closed” would mean we’d get all the behind the scenes things done. But of course there are birds to watch for, which distracts us from tasks like our Annual Appeal … preparing programs and events …
But we did get to see a hawk! And turkeys, which have been less-often spotted in the feeder area recently. And more!
As we wound down to the “end” of the year—we are really just shifting into our “winter” season—we enjoyed the last of the migrants, a sedentary birding event, and the final days of the 2024 art show.
Black-throated Green Warbler carved by Bob Spear for the Teaching Warbler collection. Photographed by Erin Talmage.
Ah migration! Everyone getting busy, going places, and we humans getting a chance to be surprised by birds on the move. This month, we saw some that aren’t usually in the feeder area.
While it’s lovely just to sit by the window, sometimes we catch sight of birds as we come to work as well. Catbirds, phoebes, and some other species are more likely to be seen at the entrance than in the bird feeding area.