Watch the birdie!
It’s time to get out the binoculars, thermos and sharpen the pencil for the 2017 Garden Bird Survey.
This is the eleventh year the project has been going and by taking part you’ll help build a picture of New Zealand’s common and widespread birds, as well as inform future conservation efforts. It’s also a lot of fun.
Choose any one day between Saturday 24 June and Sunday 2 July, get yourself comfortable and record the birds you see in one hour.
For each species record the highest number seen (or heard) at one time. (Check out questions and answers – including full instructions – here, as well as a photographic guide to help with identification.)
Then submit survey results here.
The survey is organised by Landcare Research and supported by NatureWatch, TopFlite, Birds NZ and Forest & Bird.
See if you can top Number 8 Network’s effort last year! The Woodlands Road Garden Bird survey yielded 17 species, as follows:
Tui (1), Spur winged plover (1), Magpie (2), Sparrow (22), Mallard (3), Silvereye (3), Pukeko (3), Myna (3), Starling (2), Blackbird (3), Yellowhammer (10), Chaffinch (1), Harrier (1), Thrush (1), Welcome Swallow (1), Grey Warbler (1), Rock Pigeon (2).
We missed some obvious ones, such as goldfinch, greenfinch and fantail. And seven minutes after we finished we saw a kingfisher, but couldn’t count it.
For further information, click here. Good luck!
Oh – you may want to pop the cat indoors!
Is anyone doing the bird count at Woodlands this year? I can do an hour this arvo if required.
Well done Lesley! We got a good haul this year, including grey warbler, kingfisher and eastern rosella. We got a tui last year, but none this time round.
I made the Landcare guide to bird observation in TWO locations this afternoon, 3 July, in the fog (perhaps not the best conditions??). Please find my observation results as follows:
Woodlands Homestead (Gordonton) at 2:15- 3:15pm the following sightings were made
2 Sparrows, 4 Mynahs, 2 Blackbirds, 1 Thrush, 1 Pukeko, 1 Chaffinch,6 Greenfinch, 4 Spur-winged plover
Henderson Rd (Horsham Downs) 3:35-4:35pm the following sightings made
2 Sparrows, 2 Mynahs, 2 Blackbirds, 2 Thrushes, 1 Chaffinch, 1 Magpie, 1 Harrier Hawk
Weather could well have affected the count today but will be interesting to see what happens next year!