BPQ’s 2nd Annual Great Backyard Bird Count Introductory event took place at the Morgan Arboretum this past weekend. The event was a primer for the upcoming 2018 GBBC that takes place Feb 16th to 19th. The morning started with a few activities inside the conservation center followed by a field walk, all intended to familiarize new birders with some common backyard birds, as well as introduce them to using eBird and participating in the GBBC.

The highlight  of the bird walk, naturally, was hand feeding the chickadees! No surprise, it was popular with all age groups present! In addition, good views of a Red-bellied Woodpecker nicely rounded out our list of birds seen which included Black-capped Chickadees, White-breasted and Red-breasted Nuthatches, American Goldfinches, Mourning Doves, Northern Cardinals, Dark-eyed Juncos, as well as Hairy and Downy Woodpeckers.

The Great Backyard Bird Count  (GBBC) was launched in 1998 by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and National Audubon Society. It was the first online citizen-science project to collect data on wild birds and to display results in near real-time. Participants from around the world can count birds seen anywhere (not just in their backyards!) over a four day period. There’s still time to participate in the 2018 GBBC which runs from Friday, Feb 16th to Monday, Feb. 19th. Find out more at birdcount.org or see What You Need to Know to Take Part in the Great Backyard Bird Count.

Thanks to all  who volunteered to make sure the event went smoothly, and to those who came out to join us for the activities. It was nice to see both new and familiar faces!

BPQ has two “Birding for Beginners” field trips coming up at the Morgan Arboretum on April 26th and on May 3rd, 2018 or see our other upcoming field trips on our Event Calendar.

Click on any image below to see a slideshow of the 2018 BPQ GBBC Introductory Event.