I Participated in The Great Backyard Bird Count!

Today I participated in the The Great Backyard Bird Count (an annual four-day event that engages bird watchers of all ages in counting birds to create a real-time snapshot of where the birds are; click on the link to learn more).  I always enjoy birdwatching, but trying to count them is a whole new experience!  Birds come and go as they please, eat a lot, especially when it's cold, and are repeat visitors...and guess what, everyone in the same family looks the same!...I'm sure there are distinct bird specialist differences, but to me, beyond type, they are indistinguishable!  Even still, today was great fun:)

This is my favorite picture of the day, a handsome Purple Finch...these guys are very shy but they sure take a pretty picture when you can get one!

I made 2 official observations today at the cabin.  One was 15 minutes long and I saw:
9 Carolina Chickadees
3 Purple Finches
6 Goldfinches
6 Tufted Titmouse's

4 Dark-eyed Junco's
1 White-breasted Nuthatch

These were what I believe to be individual sitings and not duplicated counts of the same bird (which was a bit of a challenge, as I described previously, but I believe I was successful).

During my observation, I took a few photos...this isn't the best, but there were 4 Goldfinches on this tree at the same time near enough to each other for a picture!  Can you find them?

A Goldfinch and Purple Finch together...their colors are beautiful contrasts.

The second was a quick sighting earlier in the morning while sitting inside and having coffee...I'd seen this beauty before but could never get a picture to confirm what it was.  Today was my lucky day, and I saw 1 Downy Woodpecker (not a great picture, but a picture)...

This afternoon, we took a hike into the Nantahala Forest behind our cabin, and came across 1 Red-tailed Hawk and 2 Carolina Chickadees (no pictures, the hawk flew away too quickly and the chickadees were too high in the trees).  I was surprised we didn't see more!  It was a very peaceful hike, except for the logging truck that lumbered past us on it's way down the mountain with a load of logs.  We did come across this interesting ice formation...

...intriguing (except for the plastic soda bottle stuck in the ice...next time I hike up there I am taking a garbage bag, I was disappointed and surprised by the amount of trash I saw littering the path along the way!).

It was a fun experience, next year I may participate in observing all 4 days.  You may want to consider participating too!

Thanks for reading my blog, you are the best f/f/r/s/f's, see you tomorrow,
Lise