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BIRDING BLOG

07/08/2010 03:23 PM
Fort Worth Audubon Society Scavenger Hunt

Join the Fort Worth Audubon Society for the 6th annual Bird Watching Scavenger Hunt on Saturday, July 17. Bird watchers of all ages and skill levels are welcome. Form your own team or get hooked up with one. Cost to participate is $5 per person. All proceeds go to the winning teams.

Participants must RSVP by July 14 to Ann Hoover at ahoov@sbcglobal.net.

Birders will meet in the parking lot of Al's Hamburgers at 5:45 am July 17 to register, then hunt throughout Tarrant County from 6 am to 12 pm. Meet back at Al's for lunch, to tally results and award prizes.

For more information, visit www.fwas.org.

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07/08/2010 03:15 PM
Will the Gulf Oil Spill Affect Backyard Birds?

As oil washes ashore along the Gulf Coast, the Cornell Lab of Ornithology is asking birders to keep an eye on nesting birds, not just near water, but hundreds of miles inland.

Wildlife biologists are monitoring species such as pelicans and plovers in the immediate path of the oil," said Laura Burkholder at the Cornell Lab. "But we need bird watchers across the country to help us find out if birds that pass through or winter in the Gulf region carry contamination with them..."

To help, Burkholder said that anyone with an interest in birds can learn how to find and monitor nests as part of the Cornell Lab's NestWatch project. It involves visiting a nest for a few minutes, twice per week, and recording information such as how many eggs it contains, how many chicks hatch, and how many leave the nest.

Many birds, such as Red-winged Blackbirds and Tree Swallows, spend part of the year along the Gulf of Mexico, where they could be affected by the oil spill, Burkholder said.

To help the effort, visit www.nestwatch.org.

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03/30/2010 02:28 PM
We Love Birds Photo Contest
The Natural Resources Defense Council and the Cornell Lab of Ornithology have launched a WeLoveBirds.org photo contest. Anyone can join this free interactive online community and submit one original photograph of a wild bird for the contest. Site members will vote for their favorite photographs. The winning photos will be announced and featured on Earth Day, April 22.
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02/16/2010 11:07 AM
Backyard Bird Count Tally

Thanks to all who came to River Legacy's Great Backyard Bird Count festival! We had a great time building bird houses, making bird feeders and more! Here's River Legacy's official tally from the bird walks:

Number of Species: 24

  •  Mallard - 2
  •  Great Blue Heron - 1
  •  Great Egret - 2
  •  Turkey Vulture - 2
  •  Cooper's Hawk - 1
  •  Bonaparte's Gull - 1
  •  Mourning Dove - 2
  •  Northern Flicker - 2
  •  Eastern Phoebe - 1
  •  Blue Jay - 2
  •  Carolina Chickadee - 5
  •  Tufted Titmouse - 5
  •  Carolina Wren - 2
  •  Golden-crowned Kinglet - 2
  •  Ruby-crowned Kinglet - 5
  •  Hermit Thrush - 1
  •  American Robin - 8
  •  Cedar Waxwing - 25
  •  Orange-crowned Warbler - 1
  •  Yellow-rumped Warbler - 5
  •  Spotted Towhee - 2
  •  White-crowned Sparrow - 22
  •  Northern Cardinal - 9
  •  American Goldfinch - 1
Nationally so far, 63,826 checklists have been submitted; 567 species observed; and 7,447,117 individual birds counted! Thanks for participating in bird conservation!

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02/09/2010 05:08 PM
Move Over Mockingbirds!

When participants in last year’s Great Backyard Bird Count tallied up the feathered friend sightings in Arlington, it was the Northern Shoveler, American Coot and European Starlings that dominated the branches, bushes and waterways in their backyards and at River Legacy Parks.

But then perhaps the state bird of Texas was smart enough to stay out of sight and out of the cold during this annual winter tally held across the U.S. and Canada.

On Saturday, February 13, the 106 species spotted in 2009 will have another opportunity to be GBBCButton counted when naturalists and volunteers from River Legacy Living Science Center lead guided bird walks and host a family-friendly festival as part of the 13th annual Great Backyard Bird Count, a four-day event led by the National Audubon Society and the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.

The festival slated from 10 am to 2 pm at the Science Center, 703 NW Green Oaks Blvd., will also include building bird houses and Valentine bird feeders.

Early morning guided bird walks will leave the Center at 7:30 and 8:30 am.  Family-friendly bird walks and group counts are scheduled for 10:30 am and 12:30 pm. Participants are encouraged to bring binoculars and cameras.

Guest speakers will discuss topics related to attracting birds to your backyard as well as backyard birding. Steve Woodward of the Wild Bird Center, will present “Attracting Birds to your Own Backyard,” at 10 am; Hester Schwarzer, a Master Naturalist, will present “Plants for Backyard Wildlife,” at 11 am; and Martin Mattingly of the Fort Worth Audubon Society will present “Backyard Birding 101,” at 12 pm.

Other activities throughout the day include story times, van tours of the Village Creek Drying Beds, face painting, and door prizes!

Each checklist submitted by these “citizen scientists” during the Great Backyard Bird Count, helps researchers learn more about how the birds are doing and how to protect them. Last year, participants turned in more than 93,600 checklists online, creating the continent’s largest instantaneous snapshot of bird populations ever recorded.

 

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07/13/2009 02:58 PM
Be a CamClickr!

The Cornell Lab of Ornithology has placed live cameras at active bird nests all around the country. Since 1999, Cornell has archived more than 8 million images from these NestCams. And now they need your help to sort and tag them. Cornell has developed CamClickr, an online tool you can use to view the images and sort them into albums, then tag each image by type of behavior you see such as preening, eating, feeding chicks, etc.

CamClickr will appeal not only to bird lovers, but to people who enjoy testing their skills with online games. Collect points and compete for prizes, such as binoculars, DVDs, books and posters, when you log on to CamClickr to help sort and tag the camera images. Also, by using the CamClickr online tool, you help scientists learn more about the nesting behavior of birds and how they are responding to challenges in their environment.

Just visit www.camclickr.org to create an account. This allows you to chat in the NestCam forums, tag photos and track your stats in CamClickr anytime.

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03/13/2009 02:22 PM
Backyard Bird Counts

River Legacy Living Science Center had a successful Family Fun Saturday: We Love Birds! event on Saturday, February 14. Following is a list and count of birds taken during the guided bird walks in River Legacy Parks that was submitted to the Great Backyard Bird Count Web site:

Red-Shouldered Hawk: 3
White-Winged Dove: 7
Blue Jay: 2
White-Crowned Sparrow: 5
Red-bellied Woodpecker: 3
Downy Woodpecker: 1
Carolina Wren: 5
Northern Cardinal: 3
Black Vulture: 1
Ruby-Crowned Kinglet: 5
Yellow-rumped Warbler: 9
Northern Flicker: 1
Carolina Chickadee: 5
Belted Kingfisher: 1
American Crow: 2
Yellow-bellied Woodpecker: 1
White-Throated Sparrow: 3
Great Blue Heron: 1
Ring Billed Gull: 4
Turkey Vulture: 1
Titmouse: 3
Sharp-shinned Hawk: 1
Great-tailed Grackle: 12
House Sparrow: 4

During the 2009 Great Backyard Bird Count event a total of 93,590 checklists were submitted; 619 species were observed; and more than 11.5 million individual birds were counted. To learn more visit www.birdsource.org/gbbc.


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01/30/2009 12:08 PM
12th annual Great Backyard Bird Count

River Legacy Living Science Center is once again joining this national effort to count birds for fun and for science during the 12th annual Great Backyard Bird Count held the weekend of February 13-16. A joint prBBC buttonoject of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and the National Audubon Society, this free event is an opportunity for families, students and people of all ages to discover the wonders of nature in backyards, schoolyards and local parks, and at the same time, make an important contribution to conservation. Participants count birds and report their sightings online at www.birdcount.org

 Anyone can take part, from novice bird watchers to experts, by counting birds for as little as 15 minutes or as long as they wish on one or more days of the event.

River Legacy's Great Backyard Bird Count/Family Fun Saturday: We Love Birds! event will be from 10 am to 2 pm, Saturday, February 14, at River Legacy Living Science Center, 703 NW Green Oaks Blvd. in Arlington. Activities include guided bird walks, Birding 101 workshops, story times and art activities, crafting Valentine Bird Feeders and more. Participants who take part in the walks and bird counting will have opportunities to enter their information online in the multipurpose room.

The data that these "citizen scientists" collect helps researchers understand bird population trends, information that is critical for effective conservation. In 2008, participants submitted more than 85,000 checklists.

For more information on River Legacy's FREE event, call 817.860.6752. For more information about the 12th annual Great Backyard Bird Count, visit www.birdcount.org.

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12/18/2008 02:47 PM
Neighborhood Turkey

Kelly reported seeing this wild turkey on Dec. 18 wandering around Giltin Court, which backs up to the park property. Too cool.

Turkey 1  Turkey 3

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10/24/2008 01:16 PM
The Big Sit!

Members of the Fort Worth Audubon Society recently participated in the Bird Watcher's Digest Big Sit event. The Wings Over Wastewater team as they were called began their Big Sit at 4 am at the Village Creek Drying Beds on October 12 and logged 82 species, 10 more than last year. This was the Audubon group's 2nd year to participate in The Big Sit. To learn more about the event, visit the Bird Watcher's Digest Web site at www.birdersdigest.com. For a list of species spotted visit the Fort Worth Audubon's web site at www.fwas.org and click on forums and Village Creek Drying Beds & River Legacy Parks topic.

After reading about all the fun the birders had during the Big Sit, you may want to mark your calendars to join them next year!

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