Great Backyard Bird Count

I listened to Julie Zickefoose's NPR story about the Great Backyard Bird Count and decided to participate this year. It turned out to be very easy. Our backyard here in Florida consists of a patio, a patch of grass and a small lake. I did about the same thing that I do everyday - spend lots of time outside or looking out the windows and watching birds. The only difference was that today I kept a written list. And as I added to my list I thought "I should keep a list every day". I love lists. I live by lists. And tonight when I hopped on the website to submit my report, I noticed a link to eBird where I am now registered to submit sightings on any (or all) days that I choose. And there were all kinds of interesting statistics. And I love stats ... almost as much as I love lists!

Here are a few of today's cast of characters:





So, gazing at the lake and around the shore I saw 10 species:

• Snowy egret
  
• Little blue heron
  
• Tri-colored heron
  
• Great egret
  
• Double-crested cormorant
  
• Northern mockingbird
  
• Red-bellied woodpecker
  
• Turkey vulture
  
• Mourning dove
  
• Common grackle
  

This list is quite typical of my daily "looking out the back door" sightings. Except the red-bellied woodpecker - I've only seen him a couple of times this year.