Welcome to the 2014 Daily Kos Backyard Science Yardbird Race! This finaltally for 2014 and is the official place to post your sightings, ask for help, and brag some if you wish. All of the fine print can be found way below under the pile of squiggly orange bird poop.
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.
There are a number of categories, so 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!
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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This is the last tally of 2014, with Grand Bragging Rights to be announced at the first 2015 tally on Sunday, January 11. You can get a head start today with your first-birds-of-the-year reports. This year I may ask for volunteers to write up tally diaries in the summer and early fall. Let me know, OK?
Once again, please thank our official tally keepers, Milly Watt, Ocean Diver and Matching Mole, who have done an incredible job organizing the Official Spreadsheet and getting everyone's numbers logged in each month. Let one of us know if you'd like to be added to the tally keepers' list in 2015. Also, one of us can send you the Official Spreadsheet, with the dates that each participant recorded each of the birds on their tally - just send one of us your email addy.
Here we go with the numbers from the December 7 tally:
URBAN ATTACHED
1. lineatus (44) ... San Francisco, CA ... 20
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APARTMENT OR CONDO
1. Benny Toothpick (27)... Carrboro, NC ... 29
2. Benny Toothpick (new location)... Hamilton, NY... 23
3. aaroninsandiego (21)... San Diego CA ... 20
4. Lenny Flank (new) ... St Pete, FL ... 12
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RURAL <5ACRES
1. most awesome nana (48)... NE PA ... 57
2. Attack Gardener (new) ... Saratoga County NY ... 49
3. PHScott ... (32, 38) ... west of Tallahassee ... 48
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RURAL >5ACRES
1. burnt out (73, 75)... middle MO ... 78 (New yard record!)
2. weezlegirl (new) ... OK ... 34
3. ninety wt (new) ... central MS ... 25
4. Joieau (new) ... W. North Carolina ... 18
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URBAN DETACHED
1. bwren (50, 41)... Seattle WA ... 53 (New yard record!)
2. greycat (new)... Portland, OR ... 30
3. billybush (35)... Omaha NE ... 17
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SUBURBAN
1. profewalt (new) ... South NJ ... 76
2. AZ Sphinxmoth (43)... Baja, AZ ... 73
3. chantedor (46) ... Paradise, CA ... 55
4. lorell (36) ... Sugarland, TX ... 46
5. enhydra lutris (40, 47) ... Castro Valley NOCA ... 39
6. DarkHawk98 (new)... Bella Vista AR ... 33
7. 6412093 (20)... NW Oregon ... 30
8. barbwires (24) ... Alexandria VA ... 21
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WATERFRONT
1. Dr. Arcadia (78) ... thumb of MI ... 85
2. political mutt (53, 65) ... Sandhills NC ... 84
3. Polly Syllabic (100, 102) ... Gooseville WI ... 83
4. Mark Sumner (69) ... Hillsboro, MO ... 80
5. matching mole (78, 79) ... Tallahassee FL ... 73
6. (tie). Milly Watt (67, 75) ... Olympic Peninsula WA ... 72
6. (tie) OceanDiver (71) ... Lopez IS WA ... 72
7. nom de plume (new) ... Upper Kitsap Peninsula WA ... 64
8. wood gas (new) ... Prince of Wales IS AK ... 39
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If you haven't done so, check out the new Backyard Bird Racers Group. Everyone who's reported at least one tally this year has been invited, and almost everyone has accepted. Check your Kosmail!
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Tally Updates
Be kind to your record keeper. 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.
The Final Tally of the 2014 Backyard Science Yardbird Race is now open! You all know what to do. I'll be off cooking and partying from late morning through early afternoon PST, but will return before dinner to check in.
May 2015 bring many good birds to all!
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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 find from the confines of your yard between January 1 and December 31, 2014. You can list a bird if you see or hear it while you are somewhere in your yard. If you live in an apartment or condo building your "yard" includes the property on which the building is located. Note that a "yard" includes your living quarters. So, you can list the owl that wakes you at 2am, but you can't list the Flamingo 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 NEW!
~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