The Nature of Things

This past weekend marked the beginning of the season for one of my favorite citizen science projects. Project FeederWatch runs from early November until early April, the period in which birds are most likely to visit backyard feeders. Its participants survey the birds in a specific area throughout that season. The birds that are counted can be those that come to feeders or that feed on the vegetation or the wildlife in the area that is being surveyed. In my case, I survey my one-half acre yard plus my northside neighbor's backyard that contains ten large pine trees that are a magnet for bird life. I did not have high hopes for my first weekend of FeederWatching. The yard has been very quiet recently, very little bird activity going on. Except, that is, for the ubiquitous House Sparrows , bane of my existence as a backyard birder. I can count 20 or 30 of these guys in my yard at almost any hour of the day. My low expectations were quickly exceeded. Even though things still seemed p...

Throughout the year, I enjoy participating in several citizen science projects, mostly related to birds but some of them tracking butterflies and other insects. One of my favorite annual projects started last weekend. It is Project FeederWatch 2013-14. Project FeederWatch is a winter-long project which surveys the birds that visit feeders or other food sources like berry or fruit bearing shrubs in backyards or nature centers, community areas, and other public locales. Participants count the birds at their designated sites on a regular schedule, usually once a week, from early November through early April. They do the counts over two consecutive days and then report those counts to Project FeederWatch. Most participants enter their totals directly online, but there is a provision for those who prefer to report manually, by mail. One doesn't have to have any particular expertise in order to participate in this project. You only have to be able identify the species and to count. Peopl...