Welcome to the Final tally of the 2014 Daily Kos Backyard Science Yardbird Race, and the first official tally of 2015!
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. 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 third pile 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
Here are the final results of the 2014 Backyard Bird Race!
2014 brought in a number of new participants, all of whom will start out with a personal record to beat in 2015: Lenny Flank (12); Attack Gardener (49); weezlegirl (42); ninety wt (25); Joieau (18); greycat (30); profewalt (76); DarkHawk98 (33); nom de plume (64); wood gas (39); as well as Benny Toothpick (25), who started over again in a new location halfway through the year.
A good number of personal records were broken this year, too: Benny Toothpick (29, +2) in his original location; most awesome nana (57, +9); PHScott (48, +10); burnt out (78, +3); 1. bwren (55, +5), AZ Sphinxmoth (73, +30!); chantedor (56, +10); lorell (47, +11); 6412093 (30, +10); political mutt (91, +26!); Dr. Arcadia (87, +9);
Mark Sumner (80, +11); and OceanDiver (72, +1).
On to the category winners for 2014:
URBAN ATTACHED - lineatus, once again running unopposed from San Francisco, CA ... 20. Someone please step up and give her some competition!
APARTMENT OR CONDO - Benny Toothpick, from his first 2014 location in Carrboro, NC ... 29. Benny raced against himself this year, too, taking first and second in this category.
RURAL <5ACRES - and breaking her own record, too, most awesome nana, reporting from NE PA ... 57
RURAL >5ACRES - From the middle of MO and for the third year in a row, burnt out ... 78. Do note that he's managed to break his own record each of those years, too.
URBAN DETACHED - I'm happy to report a new record for me, bwren, reporting from Seattle WA ... 55.
SUBURBAN - First-timer, profewalt from South NJ arrived with a bang early in the the race and stayed out in front for the whole year ... 76
WATERFRONT - Breaking their own yard record for the third year in a row, Political Mutt, Sandhills , NC ... 91
Oh, here's where we need to mention that the 2014 Grand Bragging Rights go to Political Mutt! There's no ribbon or trophy, just virtual applause:
Congratulations, Political Mutt!!
And here are the detailed numbers from 2014:
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... 25
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
2. weezlegirl (new) ... OK ... 42
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 ... 55
2. greycat (new)... Portland, OR ... 30
3. billybush (35)... Omaha NE ... 19
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SUBURBAN
1. profewalt (new) ... South NJ ... 76
2. AZ Sphinxmoth (43)... Baja, AZ ... 73
3. chantedor (46) ... Paradise, CA ... 56
4. lorell (36) ... Sugarland, TX ... 47
5. enhydra lutris (40, 47) ... Castro Valley NOCA ... 40
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. political mutt (53, 65) ... Sandhills NC ... 91
2. Dr. Arcadia (78) ... thumb of MI ... 87
3. Polly Syllabic (100, 102) ... Gooseville WI ... 83
4. Mark Sumner (69) ... Hillsboro, MO ... 80
5. matching mole (78, 79) ... Tallahassee FL ... 76
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
The First Official Tally of the 2015 Backyard Science Yardbird Race is now open! I'll be away until early evening, but you all know what to do. Just remember to treat the newcomers nicely. May 2015 bring many good birds and better bird ID skills to all!
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.
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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, 2015. 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
~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