2020 marks my 10th year logging and photographing birds during the Great Backyard Bird Count. 10 years! A decade! 10 times I’ve gone out in search of feathered friends on this same weekend in February. Maybe that officially marks me as a #birdnerd

For a number of years now, I’ve just logged birds from around our house. This year was no different. I enjoy walking around our woods and this is a great excuse to do it.

AMERICAN CROW

AMERICAN ROBIN

CANADA JAY

CHESTNUT-BACKED CHICKADEE

GOLDEN-CROWNED SPARROW

GOLEN-CROWNED KINGLET

MOURNING DOVE

OREGON JUNCO

RED TAILED HAWK

SONG SPARROW

STELLER’S JAY

#2kpioneer

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This was the 9th year in a row I’ve logged & photographed birds for the Great Backyard Bird Count.

The birds I logged were from around our house. The weather was pretty typical for February – foggy, rainy, a smidge of snow.

AMERICAN ROBIN

CANADA JAY

CHESTNUT-BACKED CHICKADEE

FOX SPARROW

GOLDEN-CROWNED SPARROW

NORTHERN FLICKER

OREGON JUNCO

RAVENS

SONG SPARROW

SPOTTED TOWHEE

STELLER’S JAYS

VARIED THRUSH

#2kpioneer

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This was my 8th year counting birds for the annual Great Backyard Bird Count. Some years I venture out to find birds at wetlands or local parks. This year, I only counted birds at home. We had a little snow, which I think kept some birds in hiding. Also, I didn’t get out as often as I sometimes do. So, although I spotted a number of birds, they were the typical ones that hang out closer to our house than off in the trees.

Dark-eyed Junco

I may be wrong, but I feel like we used to have far more Junco’s in the winter than we have had the last couple years. I did see a couple, though, during the GBBC.

Golden-crowned Sparrow

Click here to read more about theses sparrows

Song Sparrow

Spotted Towhee

To read more about them, click here

Varied Thrush

We don’t see these feathered friends very often. But I know there are a couple that visit us and I was fortunate to see one during the GBBC.

Ravens & American Crow

I saw both Ravens and Crows flying overhead a couple of the GBBC days.

Steller’s Jay

Gray Jay

To read more about one of my favorite birds, click here

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Another year, another Great Backyard Bird Count.

Typically I do a combination of counting birds in public areas, as well as around our home. This year I only counted birds near our house. Everyday I pretty much saw the same species of birds. A number of them were the same birds that have been around awhile. But, the Golden-crowned Kinglet, Black-capped Chickadees, and Hairy Woodpecker were welcome visitors.

The birds I saw this year were:

Song Sparrow

Golden-crowned Sparrow

Click here to read more about theses sparrows

Spotted Towhee

To read more about them, click here

Dark-eyed Junco

American Crow

Steller’s Jay

Gray Jay

To read more about one of my favorite birds, click here

American Robin

They just recently returned.

Black-capped Chickadee

These chickadees were a welcome surprise on day 1 of the GBBC.

Golden-crowned Kinglet

Hairy Woodpecker

Lately I haven’t been out birding as much as I would like, so this was a great opportunity to get out and enjoy it.

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This weekend was the once a year Great Backyard Bird Count. This is my 6th year participating and 2 things are for sure. I’ll seek and find birds. It will also rain.

This year the weather did cooperate a little more than usual, meaning it rained and was foggy but wasn’t crazy stormy. Sometimes I even saw the sun.

Friday, I went to a park that the kids & I refer to as the Duck Pond. I did see quite a few species of birds to report and was thrilled to see three blue herons. They are one of my favorites.

Saturday and Sunday I went for walks around our house searching for birds in the trees.

Monday, the 5 of us walked some trails around the Audubon Society in Portland. Ironically, we only saw one type of bird. We heard more, but only actually saw wrens.

The view out my car window waiting for the rain to pass.

Duck Pond

American Wigeon

Wood Ducks

Common Merganser

Acorn Woodpeckers

Downy Woodpecker & Northern Flicker

Great Blue Heron

Home

Song Sparrow, American Robin
Steller’s Jay, Spotted Towhee
Golden-crowned Sparrows, Dark-eyed Junco

Audubon Society of Portland

Wren

I always enjoy getting outside walking through nature with my camera in hand. I also kinda have a thing for birds. So, I love this citizen science project.

Until next year…

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This is my 5th year participating in the Great Backyard Bird Count & for the first time the weather was great. We have had a very mild winter & it seems spring is arriving early. Unfortunately, it was a busy weekend & I didn’t get to look for birds as much as I had hoped

Over the 4 days of the GBBC, I only spotted a handful of birds outside our house. They were all very typical of who hangs around this time of year.

American Robin

Dark-eyed Junco

Golden-crowned Sparrow

Northern Flicker

Song Sparrow

I did quickly look around 2 different wetland areas in search of birds. Here’s a smattering of what I saw that day:

The first wetlands I visited was flooded, so I didn’t get to walk around it like I’d hoped.

But, I did get to see many birds, mostly sparrows, splashing in the high water.

Female & Male House Finch

Many flocks of geese flew over.

American Coot

Anna’s Hummingbird

Red-winged Blackbird

European Starling

Killdeer getting a worm

Bushtit

Bald Eagle

Two Bald Eagles were perched in a tree near their nest at the 2nd wetland area.

It seems every time the GBBC rolls around I don’t get out & look for birds as much as I would like. But, I do spot a few birds, have fun & hope for a better result next year.

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This last weekend was The Great Backyard Bird Count. It’s a citizen science project that simply requires us to record the birds we saw over the weekend. I’ve taken part in the GBBC the last couple years & one thing’s for certain – the 2nd weekend in February at our house is going to be crummy weather & terrible for birding.

We had rain, lots of rain, & wind most of the weekend.

Much of the weekend was spent looking out the window to see if it quit pouring.

Sometimes I got adventurous & opened the backdoor.

Dark-eyed Junco

Mourning Dove & Golden-crowned Sparrow

Golden-crowned Sparrow

Dark-eyed Junco

European Starling

Friday was not as stormy as the rest of the weekend & I’m glad I took advantage of it & went outside. Other than that I tried sneaking outside between rain clouds, but inevitably I would have to come back in due to rain.

Our most frequent visitors were a flock of robins…

American Robin

… and juncos.

Dark-eyed Junco

The trusty Song Sparrows were also around.

Song Sparrow

Spotted Towhee

Left: Brown Creeper
Right: Red-breasted Nuthatch

I’ve seen this guy before, but he moves so quickly around the tree I’ve not been able to snap a pic until now.

Brown Creeper

I’ve never spotted these birds around our house. It was a fun find & made up for the terrible weather.

Red-breasted Nuthatch

Black-capped Chickadee

Chestnut-backed Chickadee

Northern Flicker

Steller’s Jay

I only caught this guy flying over. He was quite large & on a mission somewhere.

Pileated Woodpecker

3 Ravens were flying around.

Raven

This weekend wasn’t a total waste, but I sure wish the weather would have cooperated. I am already looking forward to next year.

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Last weekend was the Great Backyard Bird Count. The weather was much more cooperative this year than in years past. Friday was fabulous. I think it may have even gotten into the lower 50’s. Saturday was foggy all day. Sunday & Monday were chilly, a bit drizzly & had occasional fog. But, I’ll take it. If it’s not pouring down rain in February, I can’t complain. I was able to get out all 4 days and search for birds around our house. I spotted 18 different species, which is way more than in previous years. Most were “normal” birds for around our house. But, I was happy to see the Hairy Woodpecker make an appearance. I’ve only seen it twice before. This was only the second time I’ve seen the Black-capped Chickadees nearby. I have never noticed Pacific Wren’s around our house. When I saw them I thought they were Bewick’s Wren’s. I didn’t realize they were something different until I looked at my pictures. The Red-winged Blackbirds have been frequent visitors this last week. I see them all the time at The Duck Pond & other places around town. But, I have never seen them at our house. They are really liking the suet & bird seed I have out.

Spotted Towhee

American Robin

Varied Thrush

American Crow

Dark-eyed Junco

Pacific Wren

Song Sparrow

Fox Sparrow

Golden-crowned Sparrow

Black-capped Chickadee

Hairy Woodpecker

Northern Flicker

Steller’s Jay

European Starling

Red-tailed Hawk

Pine Siskin

Red-winged Blackbird

Gray Jay

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Once again another weekend of crummy weather for The Great Backyard Bird Count. I had plans to visit a Wetlands Preserve, but that didn’t work out. So, I only spotted birds around the house & I didn’t get too adventurous with finding them. I just didn’t feel much like hiking around in the cold, wet weather to search for birds. I wasn’t completely skunked, though. There’s always a few birds around. Here’s what I did see:

Dark-eyed Junco’s

Dark-eyed Junco

Song Sparrow

American Robins

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This was my first Great Backyard Bird Count & one of my first times ever going outside with the sole purpose of looking for birds. Stepping outside to snap bird pics is now one of my favorite things to do.

It was a crummy weekend & I didn’t get out much to search for birds, but I did find a few.

American Crow

Western Bluebirds

American Robins

Dark-eyed Junco

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