Join the Great Backyard Bird Count
February 12-15, 2010
January 26, 2010—Bird watchers coast to coast are invited to take part in the 13th annual Great Backyard Bird Count, Friday, February 12, through Monday, February 15, 2010. Participants in the free event will join tens of thousands of volunteers counting birds in their own backyards, local parks or wildlife refuges.
Each checklist submitted by these "citizen scientists" helps researchers at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology,the National Audubon Society , and Bird Studies Canada learn more about how the birds are doing—and how to protect them. Last year, participants turned in more than 93,600 checklists online, creating the continent's largest instantaneous snapshot of bird populations ever recorded.
“Taking part in the Great Backyard Bird Count is a great way to get outside with family and friends, have fun, and help birds—all at the same time," said Audubon Education Vice President, Judy Braus. "Even if you can only identify a few species you can provide important information that enables scientists to learn more about how the environment is changing and how that affects our conservation priorities.”
Anyone can take part in the Great Backyard Bird Count, from novice bird watchers to experts. Participants count birds for as little as 15 minutes (or as long as they wish) on one or more days of the event and report their sightings online at http://www.birdcount.org/. One 2009 participant said, “Thank you for the opportunity to participate in citizen science. I have had my eyes opened to a whole new interest and I love it!”“The GBBC is a perfect first step towards the sort of intensive monitoring needed to discover how birds are responding to environmental change,” said Janis Dickinson, the director of Citizen Science at the Cornell Lab. “Winter is such a vulnerable period for birds, so winter bird distributions are likely to be very sensitive to change. There is only one way—citizen science—to gather data on private lands where people live and GBBC has been doing this across the continent for many years.
GBBC has enormous potential both as an early warning system and in capturing and engaging people in more intensive sampling of birds across the landscape.”Bird populations are always shifting and changing. For example, 2009 GBBC data highlighted a huge southern invasion of Pine Siskins across much of the eastern United States. Participants counted 279,469 Pine Siskins on 18,528 checklists, as compared to the previous high of 38,977 birds on 4,069 checklists in 2005. Failure of seed crops farther north caused the siskins to move south to find their favorite food.On the http://www.birdcount.org/ website, participants can explore real-time maps and charts that show what others are reporting during the count. The site has tips to help identify birds and special materials for educators. Participants may also enter the GBBC photo contest by uploading images taken during the count. Many images will be featured in the GBBC website’s photo gallery.
All participants are entered in a drawing for prizes that include bird feeders, binoculars, books, CDs, and many other great birding products.
In 2010, Bird Studies Canada (BSC) joins the GBBC as the program's Canadian partner. "Bird Studies Canada is delighted to be the Canadian partner for this extremely valuable program," said George Finney, President of BSC. "Participating in the GBBC is an excellent way for Canadians to reconnect with their love of nature and birds."For more information about the GBBC, visit the website at http://www.birdcount.org/. Or contact the Cornell Lab of Ornithology at (800) 843-2473, gbbc@cornell.edu, or Audubon at (202) 861-2242 ext 3050, mailto:citizenscience@audubon.org In Canada, participants may contact Bird Studies Canada at 1- (888)- 448-2473 ext. 134 or mailto:gbbc@birdscanada.org The Great Backyard Bird Count is made possible, in part, by generous support from Wild Birds Unlimited.
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Images by 2009 GBBC participants: Black-capped Chickadee by Rodney Smith, WA; Bird watcher at window by Terie Rawn, NY; Pine Siskins by Steve Gillespie, WV.
February 12-15, 2010
January 26, 2010—Bird watchers coast to coast are invited to take part in the 13th annual Great Backyard Bird Count, Friday, February 12, through Monday, February 15, 2010. Participants in the free event will join tens of thousands of volunteers counting birds in their own backyards, local parks or wildlife refuges.
Each checklist submitted by these "citizen scientists" helps researchers at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology,the National Audubon Society , and Bird Studies Canada learn more about how the birds are doing—and how to protect them. Last year, participants turned in more than 93,600 checklists online, creating the continent's largest instantaneous snapshot of bird populations ever recorded.
“Taking part in the Great Backyard Bird Count is a great way to get outside with family and friends, have fun, and help birds—all at the same time," said Audubon Education Vice President, Judy Braus. "Even if you can only identify a few species you can provide important information that enables scientists to learn more about how the environment is changing and how that affects our conservation priorities.”
Anyone can take part in the Great Backyard Bird Count, from novice bird watchers to experts. Participants count birds for as little as 15 minutes (or as long as they wish) on one or more days of the event and report their sightings online at http://www.birdcount.org/. One 2009 participant said, “Thank you for the opportunity to participate in citizen science. I have had my eyes opened to a whole new interest and I love it!”“The GBBC is a perfect first step towards the sort of intensive monitoring needed to discover how birds are responding to environmental change,” said Janis Dickinson, the director of Citizen Science at the Cornell Lab. “Winter is such a vulnerable period for birds, so winter bird distributions are likely to be very sensitive to change. There is only one way—citizen science—to gather data on private lands where people live and GBBC has been doing this across the continent for many years.
GBBC has enormous potential both as an early warning system and in capturing and engaging people in more intensive sampling of birds across the landscape.”Bird populations are always shifting and changing. For example, 2009 GBBC data highlighted a huge southern invasion of Pine Siskins across much of the eastern United States. Participants counted 279,469 Pine Siskins on 18,528 checklists, as compared to the previous high of 38,977 birds on 4,069 checklists in 2005. Failure of seed crops farther north caused the siskins to move south to find their favorite food.On the http://www.birdcount.org/ website, participants can explore real-time maps and charts that show what others are reporting during the count. The site has tips to help identify birds and special materials for educators. Participants may also enter the GBBC photo contest by uploading images taken during the count. Many images will be featured in the GBBC website’s photo gallery.
All participants are entered in a drawing for prizes that include bird feeders, binoculars, books, CDs, and many other great birding products.In 2010, Bird Studies Canada (BSC) joins the GBBC as the program's Canadian partner. "Bird Studies Canada is delighted to be the Canadian partner for this extremely valuable program," said George Finney, President of BSC. "Participating in the GBBC is an excellent way for Canadians to reconnect with their love of nature and birds."For more information about the GBBC, visit the website at http://www.birdcount.org/. Or contact the Cornell Lab of Ornithology at (800) 843-2473, gbbc@cornell.edu, or Audubon at (202) 861-2242 ext 3050, mailto:citizenscience@audubon.org In Canada, participants may contact Bird Studies Canada at 1- (888)- 448-2473 ext. 134 or mailto:gbbc@birdscanada.org The Great Backyard Bird Count is made possible, in part, by generous support from Wild Birds Unlimited.
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Images by 2009 GBBC participants: Black-capped Chickadee by Rodney Smith, WA; Bird watcher at window by Terie Rawn, NY; Pine Siskins by Steve Gillespie, WV.
Before I took the pelican to BEAKS, a nearby bird rescue, we got a call about another pelican on the beach with a hurt wing. Could I be so lucky as to easily catch this one, too? As he took one look at me and quickly walked the other way, I decided "nope" and called for backup! Luckily, Jacob and Kyle from our Aquatics department were on hand to assist. After telling them a little about pelican behavior so we could plan the capture, the boys got to learn first hand all about it! We tried surrounding it and pushing it up towards the dunes, not the water, but the pelican used what limited flight it had to get away into the water. About three times. Luckily, the waves proved too much for it to swim out to sea, so it kept coming back to the beach. Kyle was determined, though, and got a little wet but managed to net the pelican! I scooped him up, Jacob held his bill, and Kyle got the pelican, and me, out of the net. Not an easy task with a large bird using his feet (which have claws), beak, long wings, and even head to try to wrestle away. We managed to get him into a cage, though.
Well, recently we went to Homosassa Springs, about 3 hours southwest of Amelia, in search of some manatees! The water temperature in the Springs is 72 degrees all year round. So, while manatees range includes the waters of the southeastern U.S. in the summer, many of them flock here when the temperature plummets. 
Thanks to Captain Mike's manatee encounter boat tour, we were able to locate several manatees and even swim in the water with them! Actually, it was more like floating. It's very important to not disturb the manatees in any way and we were glad to see that local boat captains and volunteers are dedicated to their safety. 
The highlight of the swim was a baby manatee who swam right up to us to give us a manatee kiss! Then, we got to witness him nursing his mom. The hot chocolate after we got out wasn't bad, either!
