Its the last day of the Great Backyard Bird Count today, and in keeping with the spirit of the event I decided to actually do today's count from the backyard. Kind of.
Yesterday I combined the count with our usual Sunday Drive (which have resumed with the return of the Sun) and set a new record for this count. We got a bit of a late start and many birds had returned to the dump from their daylight foraging. Parking on the road to try and keep from spooking them we counted 152 birds (conservatively). Not the most Ravens I've seen there, but certainly the most during this count. Judging by the number I saw around town and at the dog teams the total wintering population of Ravens here in Arctic Bay would easily top two hundred birds. It is an impressive assemblage.
But today I am sticking closer to home, and did the count from one window at the House. Now technically it is our backyard as it is the side away from the street, but in reality it is the front of our House. And the "yard" doesn't extend much beyond the front of the House, but I included all of the vista I could see from the client's dining room.
With one sweep of the binoculars of roughly 180 degrees I managed to see 67 Ravens, the bulk of which were at two dog team's. A little more effort probably would have netted a higher total, but it was sufficient for my goals for today.
And speaking of goals, have you participated in the Great Backyard Bird Count. Spend some time today observing and counting birdlife, then enter your checklist here. Remember that it is the maximum number of a species seen at one time that get entered. If you are entering a checklist from Nunavut you are eligble to win a book that I am giving away.
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Love it. 67 Ravens from your backyard. I’ve seen nearly 20 from my classroom but only 3 from my backyard! 🙂 No Ravens in GBBC count. I only got 2 American Crows, a California Towhee, an Allen’s Hummingbird, and 3 Anna’s Hummingbirds.
Nice to hear the results of your count Liza. Would love to see those hummingbirds., and the Towhee.