107 Great Backyard Bird Count
A short episode this week to alert you to two events currently on:
the Great Backyard Bird Count, and
National Nestbox Week.
Due to delays in my episode production, the next episode will be too late to tell you about these two events.
The Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC) 18-21 Feb 2022
What started as a way to collect data on birds visiting backyards in North America, is now a global event that provides data helping researchers learn about bird populations. Anyone can take part - just watch birds for 15 minutes or more and submit your checklist to the eBird or Merlin mobile apps or the eBird website.
Visit the official website for more information.
And follow along with the event on the eBird GBBC page where you can filter sightings and recent checklists by region on a page tailored to the Great Backyard Bird Count.
National Nestbox Week 14-21 Feb 2022
Organised by the BTO (British Trust for Ornithology) the event encourages people to put up nest boxes to help breeding birds, needed because many natural sites are disappearing. It’s also a great way to feel connected with nature, when you see birds raising their young nearby.
Find out more at the BTO's website
Timestamps & Links:
00:00:00 Great Backyard Bird Count
00:02:25 National Nestbox Week
00:04:09 Keep in Touch
00:04:26 Wrap and Close
I’m grateful to Randy Braun for designing the artwork for the show.
The theme music is Short Sleeved Shirt by The Drones.
Check out their website at www.dronesmusic.net
Don't miss an episode - follow the show!
Transcript
Suzy Buttress: It’s Suzy Here
Just a quick update to say the next episode will be out soon, but because of delays to the production, it will be too late to tell you about two events that are currently on: The Great Backyard Bird Count and National Nest Box Week
The Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC) runs from February 18-21 2022.
This is the 25th year of the survey, organised by the National Audubon Society, the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and Birds Canada.
While it started as a way to collect data on birds visiting backyards in North America, it is now a global event which provides data that helps researchers learn about bird populations.
And anyone can take part. You don’t need to be an expert birder, and don’t worry if there are birds you can’t identify. Just note down the ones you know.
Anyone submitting a checklist via the eBird website, or the eBird or Merlin mobile Apps during these 4 days will be part of the global effort, contributing valuable information via this snapshot of the birds around us.
Each bird count should run for at least 15 minutes, but you can make a session as long as you want. You can also submit as many checklists as you want over the 4 days.
You can stay in one spot, like watching the birds at your feeder, or maybe bird while you go hiking.
I’ve already submitted 2 lists watching birds out of my office window while creating the next episode!
Visit the official website at birdcount.org for more information
You can also follow along on eBird, where you can filter sightings and recent checklists by region on a page tailored to the Great Backyard Bird Count
All links are in the episode notes.
[Short musical interlude]
Suzy Buttress: We are almost at the end of National Nestbox Week, organised by the British Trust for Ornithology, the BTO, and which takes place every year between February 14th and the 21st.
The event encourages people to put up nest boxes to help breeding birds - needed because many natural sites are disappearing.
It’s also a great way to feel connected with nature, when you see birds raising their young nearby.
Find out more at the BTO's website. The link is in the episode notes.
I finally bought a new nest box with a wifi cam for this season and mounted it in the spot where the old box had been, and where we had successful broods by both Blue Tits and Great Tits.
The previous box had never had great video and there were constant interference lines on the screen. And we also couldn’t listen because of this interference. The new one is amazing, with a really clear picture and great sound. And it connects via an app so I can watch it on my pc or phone, wherever I am.
I’m now just waiting for the birds to check it out.
Jo, from Essex, told me that this week she has seen a Blue Tit pair checking out her camera nest box. She has been keeping a diary of her nestbox since 2011 and told me the key dates for last year”s nest:
In February Blue Tits were regularly looking at the nest box and they starting building the nest during March
On April 21st the first egg was laid. By 28th April there were 11 eggs being brooded and 8 of these survived on to fledge, which they did on the 2nd June
Get your nest boxes up now.
Don’t worry if you can’t do it immediately, but the earlier that you get the box up the more chance there is for birds to decide to nest there.
Do keep in touch.
Tell me about your sightings, or your progress with nestboxes, by leaving me a message, by going to the contact form on my website CasualBirder.com where you can send me a voice message or send me a written one.
Thank you to Randy Braun for designing the artwork for the show.
The theme music is Short Sleeved Shirt by The Drones. Thanks to them for letting me use it. Check out their website at www.dronesmusic.net
Thank you all for listening, and I hope you will join me again for another episode of The Casual Birder Podcast.