Project FeederWatch - Week 1

Just a fairly quick post here, something of which I will be attempting to do every weekend to give weekly updates on how my time participating in the Cornell Lab of Ornithology's Project FeederWatch is going. This is the 24th year running for this program instituted by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and Bird Studies Canada, and this year it will run from November 13th, 2010 up until April 8th, 2011. This is my very first time participating with this annual program (I have participated with Mass Audubon's Focus on Feeders program in the past, and I'll do the same this year when it comes time; this season it is the weekend of February 5th and 6th, 2011).


Below you will find a complete list of the birds I observed off and on from Noon-time today until dusk. Highlights were a female Red-bellied Woodpecker and a Red-breasted Nuthatch both visiting our suet feeder out in the front yard. Sadly, of the 3 American Goldfinches that visited the nyjer and black sunflower seed feeders today, one of them had contracted House Finch eye disease, otherwise known as conjuctivitis. Will definitely have to clean the feeders to be sure there is a lessened chance of spreading the disease, and if there happen to be several birds infected, I will have to take our feeders down for at least a full week. Anyhow, here are my sightings for the day (normally, during Project FeederWatch, an observer would try to watch the feeders for 2 consecutive days for any period of time, though if only one day can be done, then that day must have a longer protracted time of observance):

Mourning Dove	4
Red-bellied Woodpecker	1
Downy Woodpecker	2
Hairy Woodpecker	1
Blue Jay	3
American Crow	2
Black-capped Chickadee	8
Tufted Titmouse	5
Red-breasted Nuthatch	1
White-breasted Nuthatch	2
Dark-eyed Junco	3
Northern Cardinal	2
American Goldfinch	3    (1 with eye disease)