Help Count the Birds in Cheshire

Bird lovers in Cheshire can help put the town on the national birdwatching map by counting the number of feathered friends that come to visit.

The 15th annual Great Backyard Bird Count runs from Feb. 17 - 20. The event is free and no registration is needed. Just watch and count birds for at least 15 minutes on any day of the count, and record your results at www.birdcount.org.

In 2011, Cheshire residents counted:

• 775 birds of 42 species
• 13 hawks of 4 species
• 3 owls of 2 species
• 3 pileated woodpeckers

The 2011 GBBC brought in more than 92,000 bird checklists which identified 596 species with 11.4 million bird observations.

"When thousands of people all tell us what they’re seeing, we can detect patterns in how birds are faring from year to year," said Janis Dickinson, director of Citizen Science at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.

Bird experts have already reported Snowy Owls have moved well south of their usual winter range in Canada, with reports as far south as Kansas. Read more about the phenomenon in this eBird article. To appreciate how truly beautiful these birds as you watch this YouTube video.