Great Backyard Bird Count 2020

Mourning Doves and Juncos during the Great Backyard Bird Count weekend.

The international Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC) occurred over President's Weekend. We had beautiful weather in New Hampshire with some recent snow which encouraged a good number of birds to seek food at our feeders. The four day event began with my seeing a bald eagle on Friday during my lunch break. Although it was high in the sky, its white head and tail were clearly visible. It was a great inspiration for a weekend of birdwatching. I always enjoy the GBBC as it encourages me to pay extra attention and appreciate the variety of feathered visitors that stop in our yard. Here are  the species that I recorded.

The House Finch is a popular winter visitor bird feeders in New England, but I often overlook them except during this event.

House Finch

American Goldfinch love our thistle feeder in the summer. They used to fly south for the winter, but with milder winters, it has become a year-round resident. In the winter, its bright yellow feathers turn an olive grey. But the white-banded black wingers are still prominent.

American Goldfinch

Blue Jays seem to always make a lot of racket. Some years they are more plentiful than others, and for the past two years there have been fewer in our backyard. This weekend, I only saw two.

A stoic Blue Jay

We usually have one pair of cardinals as a year-round resident, but this winter two males and two females have been hanging around. They all seem to get along, so it will be interesting to see if they split apart into different territories once the breeding season begins.

Female Cardinal picking up loose seeds

Male Cardinal watches from above

The suet feeders were very popular with all sorts of birds. In addition to three kinds of woodpeckers, the blue jays, nuthatches and juncos all enjoyed the high protein snack.

Male Downy Woodpecker on the left and larger male Hairy Woodpecker on the right.

Whereas last year the Red-bellied Woodpeckers were absent, this year they returned. Although try as I might, I could not see any red on its belly.

Red-bellied Woodpecker

Each year, one species stands out in numbers more than the others, and this year it was the juncos with thirteen counted at one time. They were always busy, flying from one feeder to the next, up in the trees and then down to the ground.

Dark-eyed Junco

In addition to the birds above, I also observed Wild Turkeys, Mourning Doves, Black-capped Chickadees, Tufted Titmice and a White-breasted Nuthatch.

Finally, to add some variety to the weekend, a few grey and red squirrels appeared. Sometimes they were at the feeder, but they also spent a lot of time eating the remaining fruit from a Crabapple tree.

Squirrel eating a crabapple.

All in all it was a great weekend for bird and wildlife viewing. If you want to read about the specific results of the GBBC, visit their website at https://gbbc.birdcount.org/