BS: Christmass bird count

Subject: BS: Christmass bird count
From: Raptor
Date: 11 Dec 06 - 09:56 AM

Next sunday I'm leading one of many groups to oount all the birds we see from sun up to sun down in my home town. Its caled the Christmass bird count.

Is anyone else doing this?

Subject: RE: BS: Christmass bird count
From: GUEST,jOhn
Date: 11 Dec 06 - 09:58 AM

no.

Subject: RE: BS: Christmass bird count
From: catspaw49
Date: 11 Dec 06 - 11:33 AM

Just out of curiosity, why the hell would you do this? Do you count aphids in April as well? Beavers in January? Ants at the annual 4th of July Picnic and Fireworks Display?

Like I said, just curious............

Spaw

Subject: RE: BS: Christmass bird count
From: GUEST, Topsie
Date: 11 Dec 06 - 11:42 AM

How will you know you haven't counted some twice - or more?

Subject: RE: BS: Christmass bird count
From: Dead Horse
Date: 11 Dec 06 - 11:45 AM

Well, lets see now.
There's a partridge, two turtle doves, three french hens, four colly(?) birds, then there's assorted geese. But it gets a bit ridiculous from there on in, huh?

Subject: RE: BS: Christmass bird count
From: Paul Burke
Date: 11 Dec 06 - 12:20 PM

If It Keeps Crossing The Sea Ireland

If it keeps crossing the sea Ireland,
Observing at and perhaps with closing of your day,
Rises month makes sit down, and the sun which observes
At that it goes in the Galway bay to Claddagh.

Exactly in order to hear the ripple of the flow of mass for the second time,
The woman of the grassy plain which makes the hay.
In order to sit down exactly on side of the fire of the peat of the shed,
And in the play put out and look at gosoons.

The sea from Ireland when those blow by the heath
Can attach the fragrance simultaneously because of o'er of blowin of the breeze
And speak the language which woman others of praties
Of diggin of the hillock do not inform.

However teaching method to us it came, tried stangers.
They scorned us for some bein where are we exactly.
But in addition as for them perhaps that it pursues after the beam of the month it goes,
Or attach the candle of the penny from star.

And from now on is which goes and how doing that it is life there,
As for me doing the fact that it is there as for me who verify thing
That valuable land which crosses the Irish sea
Which asks me who permit the fact that my heaven is made in my God.

Subject: RE: BS: Christmass bird count
From: Emma B
Date: 11 Dec 06 - 12:42 PM

mangled threads Paul? - not quite recovered from the weekend then ? :)

Subject: RE: BS: Christmass bird count
From: Georgiansilver
Date: 11 Dec 06 - 12:55 PM

Guest Topsie...that's easy...you just count their legs and divide by two.

Subject: RE: BS: Christmass bird count
From: Kaleea
Date: 11 Dec 06 - 09:37 PM

I used to do this years ago when I was living in a small lakeside village area. It so happened that someone had kept peafowl several years earlier, then abandoned them upon moving away. The peacocks & peahens were still there for several years, despite coyotes etc. Imagine the fellers who were reading through & documenting the Christmas bird reports when they came across 3 Peacocks & 5 Peahens!

Subject: RE: BS: Christmas bird count
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 11 Dec 06 - 10:22 PM

I have quite a variety of birds in my area because of some woods and prairie and a creek nearby. Right now the ones I see most are a sprightly little flock of sparrows who dart around the bird feeder. We've been trying to lure in some finches, but no luck so far. Owls, hawks, vultures, ducks, egrets, herons, robins (thrushes), we have all of them hanging around.

But I don't count them formally with Audubon folks. I suppose I should one of these years.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Christmass bird count
From: MBSLynne
Date: 12 Dec 06 - 03:04 AM

The RSPB here usually runs a Big bird count (This is not counting tall yellow Sesame Street inhabitants!) in the spring. The idea is that you count all the birds of one species that you see in your garden at one time. It's only done over an hour though, or you probably would be counting the same birds over and over. The idea is to see how many of any one species are around and counting how many appear together means they can work out if that species is thick or thin on the ground (or in the air!) by comparison.

Love Lynne

Subject: RE: BS: Christmass bird count
From: GUEST, Topsie
Date: 12 Dec 06 - 05:31 AM

I did MBSLynne's bird count this year - I counted a huge variety and was really pleased with myself. Then I discovered I had counted on the wrong day (bright and cold, so the birds were hungry and were looking for food in the garden). On the day we were told to count them I saw one bluetit and nothing else. I didn't bother to register it as it would have given such an inaccurate picture of the birds that are around here.

Subject: RE: BS: Christmass bird count
From: GUEST,jOhn
Date: 13 Dec 06 - 07:16 AM

Today i got up really early, and counted all the lamp posts down my road, there are 31, 15 on one side and 16 on the other.

Subject: RE: BS: Christmass bird count
From: MBSLynne
Date: 14 Dec 06 - 03:21 AM

That's great jOhn...at least we can be sure lamp posts aren't in danger of extinction yet. In the spring you need to count how many are breeding!!

Love Lynne

Subject: RE: BS: Christmass bird count
From: GUEST, Topsie
Date: 14 Dec 06 - 05:18 AM

Most of the lamp posts I've seen have only one leg, which makes the counting a lot easier than with birds.

Subject: RE: BS: Christmass bird count
From: Raptor
Date: 14 Dec 06 - 07:02 AM

Why? : The info all goes to Cornell University for study and analisses to moniter the populations of birds all over North America. These studies have led to some important findings such as the harm and banning of DDT.

How? : We count every bird we se in each part of our study area. Some birds might be counted twice but the avarage works out every year. It's been done for the last 100 years.


Raptor

Subject: RE: BS: Christmass bird count
From: GUEST
Date: 17 Dec 06 - 07:26 AM

oh.

Subject: RE: BS: Christmass bird count
From: Black Beauty
Date: 17 Dec 06 - 08:30 AM

Please let us also think about the poor birds that will be killed over this period to answer peoples needs on a dinner table. Sorry to dampen some peoples Christmas with this thought. Good luck next Sunday, sounds fun.

Subject: RE: BS: Christmass bird count
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 17 Dec 06 - 11:13 AM

It doesn't damped my holiday thought. Turkey is very welcome on our dinner table. We have wild turkeys in our woods, but no one hunts them. We eat the stupid domesticated inbred heavy breasted variety that drowns in rainstorms if they're not careful.

SRS