The Great Backyard Bird Count ~ Our Report

Celeste and I participated in the Great Backyard Bird Count this year. We counted birds on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Andre helped us out on Saturday. 

We weren't the only ones counting birds! As of February 19th midday, the statistics on the GBBC website told us:

Statistics from 2013 (from GBBC site):

Total Checklists Submitted: 107240 

Total Species Observed: 2973 

Total Individual Birds Counted: 22336195 



A lot of birds were counted for the first time worldwide as part of this event. 96 countries participated this year! In Canada, 9,136 lists were submitted. 

Here is our list, showing the totals for the three days we counted:

American Crows: 15

Red-Billed Seagulls: 24

Iceland Gulls: 5

American Black Ducks: 9

Black-Capped Chickadee: 1

From counting birds, we learned more about each of them. Celeste noticed the marks on the snow when we first went out in our backyard (top left photo below). 

We weren't sure what they were from, but after reading the entry in the Handbook of Nature Study book, I found out that these marks were made by crows taking off. It is so interesting to learn about nature around us.

Crow at Victoria Park 

On the water, American Black Ducks and Seagulls in the background

Iceland Gull 

Celeste really liked watching and counting the birds we saw. We both noticed that this Gull had more white than others. We looked at it a little closer and I took photos. Coming home, we identified it as an Iceland Gull. Hopefully, we are correct. They are common in winter on Prince Edward Island. We had never seen these before! 

I think we are both going to love studying nature together this spring.