Today we went to a local wildlife sanctuary to count birds for the Great American Backyard Bird Count. Wow, this was so much more difficult than I would have thought. The place where we went was a 1/2 mile plus board walk over water. We were with a group that was also counting birds. We thought it would be pretty easy but, I guess I didn’t think the plan completely through. We had counted birds a couple days here at the house before we went out to the sanctuary and this was easy because we just sat in one place. This is a better idea. Out there in a huge bird sanctuary, the birds are moving around a lot more, nesting, and all sorts of stuff. We were moving, the birds were moving, it was quiet confusing. We wanted to be useful scientists but this proved very difficult! We did the best we could and if we had any question at all about the type of bird or if we might be counting the same bird twice we simply didn’t count that bird. This is also what it said to do on the GBBC’s website. I think, over all, we did a pretty good job. I hope to do it again next year as well. Next time I plan to stay in one place and let the birds come to me each time I count. Here are some of the birds we spotted on our adventure.
Anhinga nest - Mama and babies
Great Blue Heron on nest
Ducks
Not a bird but still photo worthy, don't ya think?
Not sure if this is the male or female coming back to the nest with nest fixings
Anhinga (snake bird) in the water
My spotters
Anhinga nest - Mama and babies
Pie Billed Grebe
Tri-Colored Heron
Red-Headed Wood Pecker
