Welcome to the 2015 Daily Kos Backyard Science Yardbird Race! This is the third tally for 2015, and is the official place to post your sightings, ask for help, and brag some if you wish.
Here's what the race is all about:
The Daily Kos Backyard Science Yardbird Race is a birding competition where, over the course of one year, participants strive to identify the most bird species - by sight and/or by sound - from the confines of their yards.
Everyone is welcome - new birders, experienced birders, and anyone in between. We're a very supportive group and will help as much as we can. If you're not sure about an ID, just do your best to give us a good written description. Images, even mediocre ones, can be a great help, too.
There are a number of categories, so that people who live in urban centers don't have to compete against others who have a lot of open space or waterfront views. Please let us know if you'd like to participate but find yourself not fitting into an established category - we'll work out one for you!
All of the details and the fine print can be found on the other side of the splat of orange bird poop way below.
The Categories:
~College Campus
~Urban apartment or condo
~Urban attached (townhouse, rowhouse)
~Urban detached
~Suburban
~Rural <5 acres
~Rural >5 acres
~Waterfront (trumps any of the above...)
~Classroom Project
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On to the numbers from the February 15 tally:
URBAN ATTACHED
Still no one?
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APARTMENT OR CONDO
1. Benny Toothpick (25) ... Hamilton, NY... 14
2. aaroninsandiego (21, 20) ... San Diego CA ... 13
aaroninsandiego had this category to himself for a little bit. Benny Toothpick jumped in last month to give him a challenge. They're one bird apart going into this tally, and both of them are easily on track to break their personal records.
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RURAL <5ACRES
1. jerseyblue (new) ... Howell, NJ ... 29
2. PHScott ... (32, 38, 48) ... west of Tallahassee ... 27
3. Attack Gardener (49) ... Saratoga County NY ... 23
4. birdfeeder (new) ... Shutesbury, MA ... 17
5. most awesome nana (48, 57)... NE PA ... 2
New participant jerseyblue is still in the lead here, but there's a challenge now from oldtimer PHScott, who is just two birds behind. Note that PH is also more than halfway to breaking his personal record. Attack Gardener and birdfeeder look to be strong challenges as the seasons progress. most awesome nana appears to be still snowed in. We wish her warm winds and many more birds.
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RURAL >5ACRES
1. ninety wt (25) ... central MS ... 24
Welcome again ninety wt, who is the currently the only racer in this category, and is only one bird away from breaking their previous personal record! Maybe we can roust up some outside competition this month, just to add some spice!
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URBAN DETACHED
1. bwren (50, 41, 55) ... Seattle WA ... 27
2. mission419 (new) ... Seattle WA ... 19
3. KenBee (new) ... SB CA ... 14
4. DemBeans (new) ... Kansas City MO ... 7
5. billybush (35, 19) ... Omaha NE ... 6
Looks as if URBAN DETACHED has definitely become competitive with the very close debuts of mission419 and KenBee! DemBeans and billybush look to have a bit of center of the country competition, too. Good birds to all of you.
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SUBURBAN
1 (tie). AZ Sphinxmoth (43, 73)... Baja, AZ ... 32
1 (tie). jforest (new) ... Berkeley CA... 32
2. enhydra lutris (40, 47, 40) ... Castro Valley NOCA ... 31
3. lorell (36, 47) ... Sugarland, TX ... 29
4 (tie). LICenter (new) ... Suffolk City, LI ... 25
4 (tie). profewalt (76) ... South NJ ... 1 25
5. chantedor (46, 56) ... Paradise, CA ... 18
6. gulfgal98 (new) ... Tallahassee, FL ... 11
7. 6412093 (20, 30)... NW Oregon ... 9
Not sure if we've ever seen this before, but here we are with two ties in one category at one time, a very tight race at the top that includes a brand new participant (welcome jforest), and more than one participant halfway to a personal record after two months.
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WATERFRONT
1. matching mole (78, 79, 76) ... Tallahassee FL ... 52
2. Milly Watt (67, 75, 72) ... Olympic Peninsula WA ... 37
3 (tie). OceanDiver (71, 72) ... Lopez IS WA ... 34
3 (tie). nom de plume (64) ... Upper Kitsap Peninsula WA ... 34
4. Polly Syllabic (100, 102, 83) ... Gooseville WI ... 33
5. Dr. Arcadia (78, 87) ... thumb of MI ... 24
6. political mutt (53, 65, 91) ... Sandhills NC ... 22
Looks as if there are some real races going on in WATERFRONT this year, even as matching mole has taken a substantial lead. If he continues in this manner he looks to a strong favorite for 2015 Bragging Rights. The PNW cohort, Milly Watt, OceanDiver, and nom de plume, along with Polly Syllabic, are all in a bunch right in the middle. Fighting to stay out of last place are two of 2014's top contenders, political mutt and Dr. Arcadia. No telling what will happen this year.
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The Second Official Tally of the 2015 Backyard Science Yardbird Race is now open! Newcomers and returnees are always welcome. May 2015 bring many good birds and better birding ID skills to everyone!
Tally Updates
aaroninsandiego will be making his debut as Official Tallykeeper this month. Be nice to him. For ease of keeping track of everyone's lists, please post your tallies in the following manner:
Your location, as close as you are comfortable revealing.
Your yard category.
Number of species seen so far, including your other tallies if you have any.
List of birds seen, dated if you wish.
Any comments you have about your sightings.
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"Green Diary Rescue" is posted every Saturday and Wednesday at 1:00 pm Pacific Time on the Daily Kos front page. Green Diary Rescue has been good to Backyard Science, so take a minute to recommend, comment, and then link to your other off-dKos groups.
Details and the fine print.
You'll be listing the number of bird species that you note from the confines of your yard between January 1 and December 31, 2015. You can list a bird if you see or hear it while you are somewhere in your yard. Your "yard" includes the property on which your domicile is located, and includes your living quarters. So, you can list the owl that wakes you at 2am, but you can't list the Emu you see in your neighbor's side yard while driving home if you cannot see it from any place in your yard after you get out of your car. You can, however, walk around to your neighbor's side yard to ID a bird that you have initially seen or heard from the confines of your own yard.
You may list domestic chickens, but only as the generic "domestic chicken". Feral parrots and budgies may also be listed, but only as the generic "feral parrot". Pet birds, other captive birds and birds kept for hunting don't count, but wandering peafowl are fair game.
There are no rules about ladders and fences. With the exception of utilizing recorded bird calls, which is strongly discouraged, there are also no rules about making your yard more bird-attractive than the competition's.
Once again, here are the yard categories:
~College Campus
~Urban apartment or condo
~Urban attached (townhouse, rowhouse)
~Urban detached
~Suburban
~Rural <5 acres
~Rural >5 acres
~Waterfront (trumps any of the above...)
~Classroom Project
Again, please let us know if your back yard doesn't seem to fit in any of these categories. We'll work out a new one for you.