I received a GBBC newsletter this morning and they state that so far: The numbers tell the story. With its new global reach, the 16th annual Great Backyard Bird Count becomes the largest worldwide bird count ever! As of today: 4 Days 103 Countries 120,000+ Checklists 3,144 Species 25.6+ Million birds That species total represents nearly one-third of the bird species in the entire world. Bird watchers in the U.S. and Canada set new national records for tallies submitted. Reports have come in from as far away as Antarctica and Afghanistan. So far, 30 states and 3 provinces have set new records for checklist entries. Here are the top ten countries by checklists submitted so far: United States 107,538 Canada 10,970 India 391 Mexico 263 Australia 143 United Kingdom 84 Peru 83 Puerto Rico 79 Iceland 78 Portugal 72 and they show a picture of a Japanese Green Woodpecker that is beautiful! Japanese Green Woodpecker by Masami Yoshimura, 2013 GBBC I submitted a number of checklists: one each day from my yard, two looking out at the bay to count shorebirds, and five from various spots nearby. Highlights for me were seeing the Green-winged Teal again at the Ellisville Harbor State Park and a huge raft of Common Eider in the Cape Cod Canal. It took me four days of counting before the turkeys decided to show up but I did manage to get them in (not that they're rare here but it wouldn't be a count without them). Claire

The GBBC started today and this screenshot of a map shows the checklists submitted as of about 7:20 PM: There are even some checklists submitted from Antartica. Claire

Nothing exciting, NHBabs, just the regulars and in some areas less than I'd hoped. I visited several areas along the Cape Cod Canal hoping to see the huge raft of ducks riding the current that I'd seen in the past. I probably timed it wrong because I only saw a few birds, including this red-breasted merganser preening. I checked the local marsh hoping for green-winged teals but saw mostly mallards and Canada geese. Mallards and the regulars at home were just that, the regulars chowing down. Exciting sightings, though, are great for the observer but the data-base is happy with more information on the regulars. Large flocks of crows are really impressive! One spring (I think it was spring - not GBBC) I too saw large numbers of crows flying overhead heading north and cawing. It fascinated me to see the local crows fly up to meet them, fly along a bit, and then drop down again. I was imagining them saying "Great to see you! How's the family! Have a good trip! Bye now!" Claire

When we were living at mom's house out in Jefferson county, I would feed white proso millet. I think I have counted about 6 house sparrows over there since she started feeding birds in 2012. The native sparrows love the proso millet and we would have song sparrows, white crowned sparrows, towhees, gobs of juncos, and even a harris sparrow one time all of them devouring that seed. When I moved to Phoenix the first thing I did was hang an oriole feeder from the mesquite tree that hung over the wall around my yard. I didn't have an actual hummingbird feeder at the time but had brought the oriole one with me from Denver. The hummers didn't mind and I had some wonderful Anna's HB's come to visit almost immediately. The pair of Gila woodpeckers that lived nearby also absolutely loved it. A few months later I came home from work one day and the entire thing was completely fillef with "candied" bees! They had made their way into the sugary water but couldn't get out and had drowned! I really wasn't interested in attracting bees (honeybees I personally consider an invasive species, and it is also assumed that all feral honeybees in southern Arizona are the Africanized version). So, I went out and bought an actual hummingbird feeder, which has smaller openings, and packed away the oriole one. The woodpeckers were mad at me for a bit but were assuaged by the suet (NO MELT recipe of course!) I put up for them. In addition to the bees that ruined my chances of ever attracting hooded and Scott's orioles, the neighborhood I was in had hoards of collared pigeons and house sparrows. So when I first started feeding birds other than the nectar sipping kind, I knew that the millet was a no-no. I decided to go with just a nyjer/thistle feeder and got house finches and the seed that dropped on the ground was enjoyed by the overwintering white crowned sparrows. Eventually I decided to try my luck and put out a feeder of black sunflower seeds. As I had expected, the collared pigeons showed up in droves, but I also had Inca doves so that was pretty neat. However, contrary to your observations Skybird, it didn't take long for the house sparrows to find the sunflower seed either and soon I had scores of them gobbling it up, too. At some point I decided that in an effort to mitigate the pigeon problem (I counted close to 80 in my tiny yard one day) that I would only infrequently fill the sunflower seed feeder. When we found ourselves in Platteville last fall I knew we had house sparrows. So, when I dug out my bird feeders, the first thing I put up was the big nyjer feeder I had in Phoenix. It attracts tons of American goldfinches (I have counted close to 50 at any given time). But then I was noticing the big flocks of white crowned and tree sparrows so I decided that I was going to have to take the "bad with the good" if I was going to feed birds and just accept that house sparrows are just an unfortunate fact of life in this game. Sure enough the house sparrows showed up the second I put out the black sunflower seeds. So far the blackbirds, of which we have hundreds thanks to extensive cattail stands found along the slough and the ponds, have stayed away from the feeders, though they perchin the tree they were hanging from. I have yet to see a single squirrel. The biggest problem is the mice. Despite our barn cat Claudia's best efforts, they are certainly around and we found evidence of them stashing seeds from the feeders. I REALLY do not want mice in the house our under the hoods of our cars to chew up the wires. I would much rather have flying house rats than actual rats. As for mess clean up, the constant wind that comes "sweeping down the plains" takes care of that and we don't have any lawn around the house anyhow. But regardless, due to the rodent issue, the feeders got moved out in a field about 100 yards from the house today. Hopefully the birds find them soon. I am also hoping some of the guys who don't come up close to the house, like meadow larks and horned larks, might stop by with them way out there. I'll have to see if they eat seeds... No glowing on my part, at least yet. I suspect that the carcinogens caused by the ever growing number of cars, fracking, and all the other gross stuff that is associated with the exponential development that is going on around here is far worse for a person's health than going for a hike out at Rocky Flats. I think a June field trip with you guys out there would be a tremendous idea! I know I am kind of a flake when it comes to this stuff, but I really would like to try to make it happen! Solitude is a thing that is growing ever harder to find. Even out here we have constant traffic on the road in front of the house. People going between Denver and Greeley and all the God forsaken fracking traffic. I remember as a kid, even Brighton was like heading out to the middle of nowhere. Loveland, Greeley, and Ft. Collins felt as distant as the far side of the moon. Now Cheyenne is almost part of the Front Range metro area. Every time I see another corn field around here with a piece of heavy equipment parked in it my heart sinks. More and more I regret not taking the jobs I was offered a few years ago at wildlife refuges in northwestern Nebraska... I actually tend to avoid National Parks because they are just so over crowded it ruins the whole expierince for me. To me, the greatest treasure isn't unique geology, history, or wildlife. Its being away from people. Organ Pipe was spectacular in that respect. I could drive the entire western loop of the monument and, except for the road and a few abandoned ranches, not even see evidence of other human beings. As you have found with Capitol Reef and Natural Bridges, in a lot of places the desert seems to be one landscape that is yet to be completely innundated by mankind. Even many of the local and state parks around Phoenix, which is the fifth largest city in the country and has three times as many people as Denver, I could spend all day and count on less than both hands the number of people I had to share the space with. Heres hoping your bushtits and yellow flicker showed up today, or will soon! I didn't get a count in since by the time we were done with errands the weather turn a turn for the nasty. If it holds out a little bit for us tomorrow though, I'm definitely going to try!