Project Feederwatch season begins

Project Feederwatch (aka PFW) started this weekend. For those of you unfamiliar, PFW is a citizen science program run by Cornell University's Lab of Ornithology. Here is the basic summary from their overview page:

Project FeederWatch is a winter-long survey of birds that visit feeders at backyards, nature centers, community areas, and other locales in North America. FeederWatchers periodically count the highest numbers of each species they see at their feeders from November through early April. FeederWatch helps scientists track broadscale movements of winter bird populations and long-term trends in bird distribution and abundance.

Project FeederWatch is operated by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and Bird Studies Canada.

The program is entering its 21st year, I believe, and this is my 4th year participating. I didn't get the weekend off to the roaring start that I would have liked b/c we were traveling yesterday and busy doing other things today, but I was able to spend a little time counting. I really look forward to getting up early on weekend mornings again to be with my winged friends - to count them, observe their actions, and to tune in to nature during a season when so much has gone dormant.

I will surely see and count trusted friends:

Mourning Dove

Northern Cardinal


Carolina/Black-capped Chickadee


Tufted Titmouse


White-throated Sparrow


American Goldfinch (feeding frenzy)


Dark-eyed Juncos

And new, if only fleeting, friends

Pine Warbler (new visitor, early 2008)


Northern "Yellow-shafted" Flicker (random guest)


Red-winged Blackbirds (new visitors, early 2008)

And simple reminders of their presence

Feederwatch helps get me through the dreariness of winter. Here's to a new season!