See your 'Life Bird"

Painted Bunting

Hermit Thrush

 What's a life bird?  Simply put it's a bird of a species you've never seen before in your life.  For Mark and I, the most amazing life bird we've ever seen was a painted bunting.  This little beauty flew into our front yard and head on into our sliding glass window.  Although not avid birders, we've always dabbled with our field glasses when hiking and hoped to see an unusual bird. This unfortunate little guy was stunned and on the ground but looked okay.  We picked him up and put him on Mark's shoulder and he stayed there for about 15 minutes.  He seemed to be moving a little better so we placed him in this potted plant.  He walked around it for a few turns then flew off.  A few minutes later he flew back into the yard and sang his little bunting song as if to say "thanks for the help."  We were frantically clicking the camera to capture our new yard companion.

Lincoln's Sparrow

These little fellows were photographed by one of our guests at the RV Park.
 

Ladderback woodpecker

This woodpecker is a constant visitor to the park and has
several favorite trees and phone posts that he pecks on. 

Barred Owl

These owls have a nest that seems to be inhabited year after year by yet another family of owls and their offspring.

From February 18 through the 21st the Audubon Society is sponsoring the annual Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC) and our RV Park is one BIG backyard so I hope to get some of our guests and friends to participate with me in this special nationwide bird count.  I have downloaded and printed some bird check lists for our area.  If you'd like to join us or even if you want to do a bird count on your own, let me know and I'll get you copies of the check list.  There's a great website to help us identify birds by their physical appearance, behaviors and sound.  Just click on the birds on this check list and get a thorough description of it's details including some videos and recordings of their songs and calls.  Field glasses can be a great help if you have them.   Digital and phone cameras are also helpful to photograph a bird for later identification.
This bird count along with the annual Christmas Bird count, Project feeder Watch, and E-bird have done much to help to give the Audubon Society an immense picture of our winter birds. Each year that these data are collected makes them more meaningful and allows scientists to investigate far-reaching questions.
So join us if you can by stopping by the office for your bird check list and instructions on how to report your findings.  Love to bird with you...give us a call.