Backyard/Garden

A new month brings a fresh start for those who decided to join in on the Bird-a-Day Challenge. The official challenge, taking place on birdaday.net began on New Year's Day. Since then I have been trying to play along, just for fun, counting how many days in a row I can find a “new” bird. (New = recorded for the first time in this game.) So far, I’ve lasted five weeks. Making it this far has already been tough, and it’s only going to get harder.

Plenty of people are playing along, some from as far away as the UK. And a number of new people recently started counting from Feb 1.

Photo by Kevin Shank, Nature Friend

Albinos are hard to come by: Only one in 17,000 humans are believed to have albinism, and there are seven billion of us. Which is why getting pictures of an albino ruby-throated hummingbird – a tough bird to photograph as it is – can be difficult.

But Kevin Shank and his eldest four sons managed to do just that last August, capturing an array of beautiful pictures of the unique creature.

“That was the thing about Levantin: He loved the birds, but he really loved the places they brought him. When you spend your career in the confines of a gray suit, the pipits at dawn above timberline are even more wondrous,” wrote Mark Obmascik, author of The Big Year: A Tale of Man, Nature, and Fowl Obsession.

I am not obsessed—not even a little. But I get what Obmascik was saying. For some birders those little feathered creatures fluttering in the bushes are a tick in their notebooks. For others, they are a reason to take in the spectacles that most of us miss.

Despite my tradition of renouncing New Year’s resolutions, I’ve made several this year. Yes, the normal lose five pounds, get organized, consume less caffeine, exercise more often… but also to beat last year's record: 80 days. That’s how long I lasted in 2011’s Bird-A-Day challenge, a contest to see a new bird species for every day of the year.

Whether you fancy yourself a serious “lister,” a novice birder, an outdoor enthusiast, or a hard-core competitor, you may be interested in a challenge that is about to begin when the clock strikes midnight on New Year’s Eve.

It’s called “Bird-A-Day.” The objective: Count how many days in a row you can find a “new” bird. (New = recorded for the first time in this game.) The rule: You must never repeat a species, nor go a day without seeing a new one. If you do, you are out of the challenge.

Donna Trussel

The chilly winds of winter are settling in and many birds are searching for feeders that will provide them sustenance to survive the cold months ahead. Audubon biologist Steve Kress offers 11 of his top tips for attracting birds to your backyard. 

When the fiery red, orange, and yellow leaves fall from the trees and land on your lawn, pilling them high for jumping can be a family affair. And when you’re sufficiently exhausted from diving in the heaps of foliage, you can use the leaves to nourish your garden, shrubs, and trees. Instead of putting them in a bag, mow, mulch, mix, or compost them.

Photo by Jim Wright

Look at that eye. Can you ID this bird? Click here for another clue.

(Leda Meredith leads a foraging tour in Prospect Park, Brooklyn.)

Leda Meredith, an expert urban forager, stepped off the park’s cement walkway and into a clump of knee-high greenery. “We could get our lunch right here,” she says to a group of want-to-be and practicing harvesters with notebooks and cameras at the ready.

 
Hummingbirds usually flit about, making it difficult to get a close look. For the next couple of days, however, you can get an up-close look at two young Allen's hummingbirds in a nest located in a rosebush in Orange County, California. The birds will likely fledge by the end of the week, so the golf ball-sized nest is looking a little crowded these days.