Birdwatching

An Auburn amateur birdwatcher is hoping some other area residents will join her in this year’s Great Backyard Bird Count Feb.15 through 18.

“This is a four-day event to count birds,” said Rita Kempf of Auburn. “I really don’t think that the people in the South are very well represented. I would like to see more Alabama birds being counted.”

Kempf said anyone interested in participating in this year’s backyard bird count can call her at 334-703-6688.

“I would also like to get a bunch of people here for bird walks, but I am not an expert,” she said. “We don’t have an Audubon Society here in town, but a lot of local people belong to the River Region Club in Montgomery. People in the bird club are friendly.

“It is a great hobby because you make all sorts of friends you didn’t know you had before,” she said. “Now, it is so easy with the Internet, you just go on and meet other people.”

She said birdwatching is easy.

“I want people to stress that it is easy. You don’t necessarily need to buy a feeder and put it up. Most people have a deck, railing or a back porch. It isn’t messy if you use the ‘no-waste’ bird seed.”

According to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology Web page, the Great Backyard Bird Count is an annual four-day event where bird watchers of all ages count birds to create a real-time snapshot of where the birds are across the continent. Anyone can participate, from beginning bird watchers to experts.

Participation is free, and the count helps the birds. The site suggests:

- Plan to count for at least 15 minutes during Feb. 15 to 18,

- count the greatest number of individuals of each species that you see together at any one time, and write it down on regional checklists available on the site, and

- enter the results on a checklist through the Web page, www.birdsource.org, and look up the Great Backyard Bird Count, or www.ebird.org.

The ebird.org Web site said the nation’s backyard bird count broke records last year.

“Last year, participants reported more birds than ever before: more than 11 million individuals of 613 species, and broke the all-time record for total checklists: 81,003,” according to the site.

In the local 2007 backyard bird counts, 48 species were reported in Auburn and 60 species in Opelika.

In Auburn, 1,179 birds were counted. The top ten numbers of birds seen together at any one time in 2007 included: American robin, 174; chipping sparrow, 107; Northern cardinal, 72; yellow-rumped warbler, 70; white-throated sparrow, 65; American goldfinch, 54; house finch, 52; blue jay, 44; American crow, 44; and tufted titmouse, 43.

In Opelika, 2,764 birds were counted. The top 10 numbers of birds seen together at any one time in 2007 included: yellow-rumped warbler, 1,286; rustyblackbird, 172; American robin 158; American goldfinch, 128; ring-necked duck, 96; white-throated sparrow, 94; wood duck, 80; lesser scaup, 76; killdeer, 71; and red-winged blackbird, 69.

Kempf participated in the 2007 Auburn/Opelika Christmas Bird Count when 106 species were identified and 7,511 individual birds were seen.