as I type this 2\6\08 I have about 75 cedar wax wings in my yard feeding on the seeds from the tall hedge row.I did manage to get some photos.I will not be here this year for the gbbc.oh yes, the birds. theyre in north cape may.

Back in the Day. I participated in something Cornell did called Project Feeder Watch-I still have the sweatshirt. Is this a spin off of that?

I've enjoyed taking part in previous GBBCs; couldn't last year but will try this year. As an aside: I quit entering my observations on E-Bird because they kept questioning my sightings. Yes, we have Northern Cardinals. Always have. Red-Bellied Woodpeckers for the last decade or more. Eurasian Collared Doves for several years, too. We've fed birds every day since March, 1967 and we know our yard birds. Thank you for letting me vent.

I'm about to go on the local radio station WTZL, Amsterdam, New York where I will be talking about the GBBC. I expect lots of callers to discuss their plans.

Rich Guthrie New Baltimore, New York

WRONG STATION ID sorry

Google Reader isn't able to detect an RSS feed for this blog, and I don't see an orange RSS feed button anywhere. Is there some other way I can subscribe to this blog using a feedreader?

Thanks, Joy

We are re-opening our Kidscape gallery with the GBBC as the main theme this weekend.We are looking forward to sharing with our young audience at the National Science Center in Augusta, GA this exciting program for families. Our Kidscape audience is children 7 and younger with their parents and teachers. Paul Koehler of the Silver Bluff Audubon Socieity will be conducting a program tomorrow at 11am for a group of children. Today we have Sandy Lawrence, a volunteer and avid birder, hosting the gallery today. Submitted by Cheryl Wynn, Education Specialist at the National Science Center's Fort Discovery in Augusta, Georgia

We vacationed at the Grand Canyon with a daughter and her family during the long holiday weekend in 2005. We birded Sat.Feb. 19 and Sun.Feb. 20 looking especially for a California Condor. We had seen them there in Oct. 2003. On Monday morning we drove east along the rim road, stopping many places to see the fantastic views with some snow and of course to bird. My 14 year-old granddaughter was the first to see the condor from the Yaki Pt. area. Another notable bird we saw was Townsend's Solitaire at Grandview Pt. It was several days before we were able to get to a computer to enter our sightings. And then it wouldn't take our condor entry. I kept after it, however, and eventually had to speak to someone who seemed to be in charge of monitoring Arizona entries and clearing them for some imagined authenticity. It was only after considerable arguing that finally our sighting appeared on the list for Arizona. I frankly could not tell that that person knew about condors having been released at the Grand Canyon several years earlier. After close of reporting period I checked the U.S. list (mostly for California) and there were no other condors turned in. Or perhaps no one else persevered long enough to get theirs listed. We have really advocated for many years to see that the condors do not disappear, just as we are now donating to the Whooping Crane eastern project. We must not let any more avian species go extinct.

1. Burgen Arlington, TX

How did you finally get someone to record your sighting of the condor. I am having trouble getting a listing in my locality of ruby-throated hummingbirds because "data shows that they should not be here this time of year". Carol L. - Florida

I live on the flyaway for the sandhill cranes. Is Any one interested in pictures of them gathering strays and forming the v to go north? At about 1000 feet in sky. Not detailed at that distance but the forming groups might interest someone. Chas.massey@frontiernet.net

We have observed over the last two years as many as 7 Bald Eagles (some immature) at the property we purchased on Lake Erie! Yesterday and today (2/16) we noticed them fishing on open water off shore. I have never been so excited about birding before! When you see one of these raptors up close (soaring overhead and looking at you) it is awe inspiring. To think they are making a comeback is wonderful! Thank you for the Great Backyard Bird Count! It is good to know someone is keeping track. They are a precourser of climate and world conditions.

We have observed over the last two years as many as 7 Bald Eagles (some immature) at the property we purchased on Lake Erie! Yesterday and today (2/16) we noticed them fishing on open water off shore. I have never been so excited about birding before! When you see one of these raptors up close (soaring overhead and looking at you) it is awe inspiring. To think they are making a comeback is wonderful! Thank you for the Great Backyard Bird Count! It is good to know someone is keeping track. They are a precourser of climate and world conditions.

Beats me how you guys can deny my sighting of Common Moorhens and the next day accept a sighting farther north.

Hi, just an observation about redpolls that I made the other morning when the temperature here in Pinawa Manitoba was -34C with a NNW wind of 30 -40 kph. A flock of about 50 of these little critters were Burrowing their way into the snow on the eaves of the house across from my home. It appears as though they were taking advantage of the fact that the eaves faced the 9:30 a.m. sun and were facing SSE in the lee of the prevailing wind. Roy

Enjoyed the GBBC this year as always but had quite a surprise the last day ,a little after 6:00 pm while watching for the late afternoon cardinals to come in to feed. We witnessed the space shuttle, appearing to come right over our house. It was quite exciting. One bird that I wasn't expecting. Gail

We've had fewer species here in South Pasadena Florida this year than the last few. I was bemoaning that fact when my husband spotted a pair of oyster catchers a week before the GBBC. I was glad to see them even if it was too early for the count. Imagine my surprise when bright and early on Feb. 15th the first birds I counted were the pair of oyster catchers who were only around long enough for me to call my husband to come and see. Despite fewer numbers the birding was great as was the weather. I can't imagine doing this up there in the frozen north. Edith

our sightings of Yellow-billed Magpies and Tricolored Blackbirds were indicated as questionable due to their not usually in our area, (Redding, CA) until later. We have 3/4 acre which backs up to a golf course which has a large pond with cattails, etc, and a large colony of Blackbirds live year-round there, and fly daily to our feeders. Perhaps the West-Nile Virus is deemed to have eradicated the Yellow-billed Magpies, but we have tons of them and nests galore in nearby trees. I don't think other parts of Redding have as many, if any Magpies. The Magpies and the Blackbirds try to dominate the feeders, of course. Snowy Egrets and Great Blue Herons fly into the golf course right behind our fence, from the Sacramento River, 4 blocks away, to eat the worms which surface during heavy rains.

Why is the lesser goldfinch not on the checklist for Zip Code 81506? These neat little birds are here year round, feeding on our thistle sock and on some of our flowers. (Lately, however, they've been crowded off the sock by pine siskins.)