For four days this weekend, Friday, February 17, through Monday, February 20, the Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC) joins the efforts of “regular people” and scientists. Free to participate, it requires spending some time watching and identifying birds in your backyard or on on a trail, then reporting your findings through a website.
Who can count birds? Anyone with fifteen minutes during any of the four days can submit a bird count online.
Why count birds? Designed for all abilities, scientists take citizen-submitted data to create snapshots of migration, population and its relationship to weather, disease, and other stresses, and overwintering patterns.
The weekend can also be a testing period for families who are interested but not ready to commit to birdwatching as a hobby, as well as for people who want to hone their picture taking skills in the bird photo contest.
Helpful tips. If a bird feeder is desired for a season just to test its compatibility with your family’s lifestyle, bird feeders can be constructed for very little money using plans on the internet. For direct instruction and a small fee, Polk County Conservation offers bird feeder making classes. Your municipal park department may offer a similar class. Two liter soda bottles, bleach bottles, milk jugs and milk cartons – which become trash from things that many families buy anyway -- are commonly used items for building bird feeders. This local family used pinecones from the yard and some peanut butter to make their bird feeders.
Park packs with the birding theme make it easy to involve children. Park packs are free and full of interesting material. My geocaching blog has some other tips, as well as the Des Moines Children's Entertainment Examiner.
For a list of places to watch birds, visit Birdwatchers Digest and the Iowa Ornithologists Union Facebook page. Raccoon River Park in West Des Moines also has a bird blind.
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