Keep your birding eyes open for the Great Backyard Bird Count, set for this weekend, Feb. 12 - 15.
The Great Backyard Bird Count is a community science project in Ornithology. The Count, now in its 24th year, is conducted annually in mid-February. The website https://www.birdcount.org/ is the place to get started.
Enjoy a free, fun and easy event. Each year, people from around the world come together to watch, learn about, count and celebrate birds. Your participation matters. Count for at least 15 minutes from a location, travel to different locations, or count at the same spot multiple times.
From the comfort of your home, watch your feeders, count and record your sightings. As with all data entered into ebird, Cornell is not asking you to be perfect, they ask that you do your best.
Join bird enthusiasts worldwide next Friday through Monday to report birds you see anywhere. A look at the website ebird.org shows that over 60 species have been seen in the East Kootenay so far this February.
For assistance with identification, use the Merlin App on your phone. merlin.allaboutbirds.org/download is free, easy to use, and rapidly assists with identification of birds nearby. Good Luck and enjoy.
Submitted by Daryl Calder