Great Backyard Bird Count 2011

This year's Great Backyard Bird Count was a lot of fun. While camping at Hopkin's Prairie in Central Florida, Andy and I decided to keep our "yard" list at the campground. We marked out our boundary as the little penisula that we were camping on that jutted out into a prairie wetland. We counted Saturday evening, Sunday, and Monday morning. Over the few days we were able to really get a sense of the bird life and what was using this habitat. Our list for the three days had some highlights for me personally including: Sandhill Cranes, a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, and of course the Great Horned Owl that we heard calling over the prairie at night. Here are the totals:

Number of Species: 47
All Reported: yes
Checklist:
Mottled Duck - 3
Blue-winged Teal - 2
Pied-billed Grebe - 1
Double-crested Cormorant - 6
Anhinga - 2
Great Blue Heron - 3
Great Egret - 3
Little Blue Heron - 1
White Ibis - 1
Turkey Vulture - 11
Bald Eagle - 2
Red-shouldered Hawk - 2
American Kestrel - 1
Sandhill Crane - 3
Killdeer - 6
Lesser Yellowlegs - 1
Mourning Dove - 2
Great Horned Owl - 1
Belted Kingfisher - 1
Red-bellied Woodpecker - 2
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker - 1
Downy Woodpecker - 2
Eastern Phoebe - 2
Blue Jay - 1
American Crow - 7
Fish Crow - 5
Tree Swallow - 23
Carolina Chickadee - 2
Tufted Titmouse - 1
Carolina Wren - 1
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher - 3
Ruby-crowned Kinglet - 2
Gray Catbird - 1
Northern Mockingbird - 1
Orange-crowned Warbler - 1
Yellow-rumped Warbler - 6
Yellow-throated Warbler - 1
Pine Warbler - 2
Prairie Warbler - 1
Palm Warbler - 3
American Redstart - 1
Chipping Sparrow - 5
Song Sparrow - 1
Northern Cardinal - 2
Red-winged Blackbird - 3
Common Grackle - 42
Boat-tailed Grackle - 2

If you haven't participated in a Great Backyard Bird Count I hope that you are inspired for next year. It's fun whether you're counting your backyard or a local park. Check out the GBBC website for more details!