Oops—the Great Backyard Bird Count is underway!

Last week was coolish, windy, and a bit rainy, so the mature red tail in the main flight is still at LWR. The weather’s looking promising for a release this week. He’s good and ready to bid us adieu, too!

Unfortunately, the second mature red tail wasn’t as lucky; as I feared, once the swelling went down on his wing, it was obvious this was not a healable fracture. He was humanely euthanized.

The screech—well, there’re only so many ways to describe a screech, and I’ve used ‘em all on this ill-tempered spitfire who’s SOOOO ready to go once the weather warms up a little more reliably. Currently, we’re having near-80-degree days one day and 50 the next, with nighttime temps fluctuating between 50s and near-freezing—not ideal weather to release a small bird who normally roosts in cavities during the day and is actually most active at dusk and dawn. Gotta love ‘im, though, the pissy little fellow!

And finally, I owe y’all a bit of an apology: Normally I push the Great Backyard Bird Count pretty hard and encourage everybody who can to participate, but this year I had too many irons in the fire and it slipped up on me before I knew it. Tomorrow’s the last day, so utilize today and tomorrow to participate if your schedule allows. Remember, it’s very flexible; you can count for as long or short a period as you like, and your count can be in your yard, in a field, in a park—wherever you see or hear birds. You also don’t have to list all the birds you see or hear, if you run across one or two you’re not familiar with or, in the case of warblers, you’re unsure exactly which warbler you’re seeing.