My Forest Library

This weekend I participated in the Great Backyard Bird Count, an event for citizen scientists hosted by The Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Audubon, and Birds Canada. The purpose of the event is to track the locations of birds all over the world so ornithologists can use this data for their research and to update records on bird populations.

I sat on my third-floor porch to watch and count birds; this spot is high up in the trees and is a perfect location for observing wildlife. The birds I saw and heard during my three observation sessions were mostly the usual suspects (including Cardinals, Chickadees, Nuthatches, Titmice, Wrens, and a bunch of different woodpeckers), but there were a few birds I was surprised to find, as I don’t see them very often. These included a Pine Warbler (or possibly two, I couldn’t see them both but they seemed to be singing to one another) and a Hairy Woodpecker. I used two official apps to record my observations: the Merlin Bird ID app and eBird. Both of these apps can be found on the participation page for the GBBC. I also want to note that while I was observing I was using the Merlin bird song ID to record bird sounds and see if I could identify any birds I was hearing but not seeing. At one point the app claimed to pick up the sound of a Wild Turkey. Now, we definitely have turkeys around my house — I’ve seen them many times. But I was really surprised that the app was claiming to hear a turkey because I couldn’t see any nearby. I didn’t count the turkey on my official bird list… but that would have been a happily unexpected addition if I had actually seen one (around here turkeys try to stay away from houses — probably for good reason!).

I leave you today with this drawing of a Downy Woodpecker that I drew a few months ago. Stay tuned for more of my nature drawings as I attempt to improve my craft.