No snow here on the far east coast - that big Valentine's Day storm was sleet, frreezing rain and then just a deluge of rain with strong winds off the bay. I'm counting today and just waiting to see if more mourning doves sneak in as it gets dark. It's very windy and a few of my regulars have not appeared (tufted titmice and the robin). I'll probably count again one day this weekend to try to get all the species I know are out there. Maybe even the Cooper's Hawk. Claire

Hi Azura, I have the book Birds of Denver and the Front Range that was given to me by my brother who owns a Wild Bird Supply store in Illinois, but I find I use my original book far more often. Sometimes I use the Denver book, but its more for a cross reference to compare pictures. My "main" book is A Guide to Field Identification Birds of North America by Golden Press, New York and I like the pictures and the way its set up better. That book was also given to me by my brother when I first started bird watching (now called birdingbut I still prefer bird watching!) There are other Colorado birding books available, but I dont know anything about them. Heres a list of the Most Frequently Seen Birds of the Denver Area which can be really helpful when youre first starting to identify them and trying to eliminate all the ones in the "complete" bird book that arent even a possibility. The ones youll see most often around here are House Sparrows (not really sparrows!), House Finches, Black-capped Chickadees, Pigeons & Doves, Blackbirds, Blue Jays, several different Juncos when theyre migrating thru in spring and fall (and sometimes in winter), and, especially if you put suet out, Flickers, Hairy Woodpeckers, and Downy Woodpeckers. Oh, and Robins, of courseI have them all winter. If you put out some feeders youll see a lot more birds than if you just watch for them, but I recommend staying away from millet or "all purpose" bird seed as it just attracts dozens and dozens of House Sparrows that will keep many other birds away. I recommend safflower seed, thistle seed, black oil sunflower seed and suet. That will get you at least all of the birds I mentioned above (except the House Sparrows), and many more, but just not as many of each. I love to watch the chickadees, but still havent attracted much of a following at this house, which is only a couple miles away from my last house where I had lots of them. But little by little theyre showing up. If you put the feeders near deciduous trees, thatll help even more. Heres a link to the best online bird identification site Ive found. Click on "all birds." AND, if youve never heard of it before, heres a link to Bird Cam where you can watch Eagles, Falcons, Kestrels, Ospreys, and Owls laying their eggs and raising their young. Its fascinating to check in on them every now and then. Check out the Eagle Cam. They should be laying their eggs pretty soon. Just in case all you see when you go there is an empty nest, remember that these are live cams, and the Eagles come and go! Enjoy our feathered relatives, Skybird (without the feathers!)

I just started Project FeederWatch this season. I count on Sunday-Mondays, and actually look forward to those days. Although I like to count on a fixed schedule, it can be more flexible if necessary. The maximum frequency for those who submit data online is 2 days/week. For those who submit data on a paper form, it's 2 days every 2 weeks. As for the minimum frequency, the instructions only say "Your data are valuable even if you were only able to count on a few occasions". You can count intermittently throughout the 2 day period, or sit there and watch constantly. You estimate the total cumulative time. This can be less than 1 hour total, or more than 8 hours. If you work full-time, you can count for a bit before and after work. Counting the birds has helped to pass a very cold, snowy and tedious winter. I really enjoy exploring the data that results from these counts too.

Yes, I am. This is my first season for this count and I think it's a lot of fun. I try to watch for chunks of time, like at least 30 minutes, several times a day. I did not count on Friday...I forgot. This season I have also been counting for Project Feeder Watch which is run by Cornell Lab of Ornithology. It's a lot of fun and has gotten me to pay more detailed attention to the birds. PFW starts the second Saturday in November and runs until April 4th. Two weeks ago I counted for Mass Audubon but did not get many birds at all. Some days are so busy that I can hardly keep up. Other days are slow with few birds. I watched one Saturday afternoon for over an hour and had only one bird during that entire time...isn't that strange? sooey