Christmas Is Bird-Counting Season (2016)

It's great to be sitting at the desk coding and being able to look out and see a handful of birds attacking the feeder.

- 2-3 Flickers (I've seen at least a male and a female)

- 3-4 Acorn Woodpeckers often we get 2 per feeder and the other birds keep their distance.

- About 20 Stellar Jays. They stick around most of the year.

- Dozens of Junkos, House Finches, Chickadees, Silkens, Starlings, and Red-Winged Blackbirds.

It's pretty crazy watching these little tiny birds get all belligerent at the feeder.

A birder doing a bird count in South Carolina was in a location that only allows access for the bird count. He photographed a small sandpiper that appeared to be Little Stint, a species native to Eurasia and very rare in North America. It happened to have a metal band on its legs and close inspection of photographs were able to reveal a code that traced the bird back to Ottenby Bird Observatory off the east coast of Sweden, where it had been banded in September of this year.

Sadly both of my CBCs were cancelled this year due to concerns about pandemic.

There is also a spring/summer cousin to the CBC, the Breeding Bird Survey (BBS). https://www.usgs.gov/centers/pwrc/science/north-american-bre...