It's nearing that time again for the Great Backyard Bird Count!!
The 17th annual GBBC takes place February 14-17, 2014.
Yes, it's early but get it marked on your calendar so there's no forgetting ;)
And be sure to get your cameras
ready to grab some great shots!
As always there is another free poster available this year to help identify the species in your area.
To hold you over here an update on the Spoon-billed Sandpiper.
"Some unexpected good news has us looking back at this 2011 video of an endangered Spoon-billed Sandpiper hatching its young in Russia. The adult male in this video was recently spotted in wetlands near Shanghai. In the intervening years, this one-ounce bird has flown the 3,200 mile journey between Russia and China three times and is still going strong—a symbolic moment of tenacity and hope for this critically endangered species."
Watch the father with his chicks.
Video includes commentary by the Cornell Lab’s Gerrit Vyn.
Filmed July 7, 2011, near Meinypilgyno, Chukotka, Russia
Filmed July 7, 2011, near Meinypilgyno, Chukotka, Russia
''Spoon-billed Sandpiper: Hatch
This piece captures the first moments of life at a windswept Spoon-billed Sandpiper nest. When the young finally hatch and emerge from the nest, after 21 days of incubation, they stumble about on well-developed legs and feet and begin to feed themselves. Females lay 4 eggs in a simple tundra nest in a shallow depression, most often in mosses, lined with a few dwarf willow leaves. Both adults incubate the nest, taking half-day shifts. The male most often incubates during the day and the female at night. After the last chick hatches, the male begins his job of leading the chicks as they grow and become independent about 20 days later. The female departs soon after hatching and begins moving south.''
Spoon-billed Sandpipers lay 4 eggs in a simple tundra nest comprised of a shallow depression, most often in mosses, lined with a few dwarf willow leaves. The nest is incubated by both adults on half-day shifts -- the male most often during the day and the female at night. After 21 days of incubation the eggs begin to hatch in a process that takes a day or more to complete. When the young finally emerge from the nest they stumble about on well-developed legs and feet and begin to feed themselves. After the last chick emerges, the male begins his job of leading the chicks as they grow towards independence about 20 days later; the female soon departs and begins moving south. This piece captures the first moments of life at a wind swept Spoon-billed Sandpiper nest.''
