Just received this today:
Dear GBBC participant:
Thank you for being a part of this great event! There are just a few more days left to enter tallies for the 11th annual Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC). And, thanks to your participation, we’ve just surpassed last year’s record-breaking number of more than 80,000 checklists! If you haven’t already sent us all your observations, please enter your GBBC checklists by this Saturday, March 1st at
Great Backyard Bird Count — Great Backyard Bird Count.
It’s been equally rewarding to see all the stunning images submitted for the photo contest. We’ve posted nearly 400 photos, twice as many as we did last year, so you can get a sense of the beauty and the variety of species observed across the continent. We’ll be assembling judges from the National Audubon Society and the Cornell Lab of Ornithology to review each of the thousands of images we received and choose winners in each category. It won’t be easy an easy task!
As soon we’ve received all checklists, we will also be choosing names from among all GBBC participants to give away the great gifts donated this year—including bird feeders, books, and free memberships in our two organizations. You can see the full list of prizes here:
2008 GBBC Prizes — Great Backyard Bird Count.
Scientists at the Lab and Audubon will be combing through data trends and changes. We’ll report findings on the web site later in March. You can also explore the results yourself via the lists and maps provided in the Explore the Results section of the web site. In the Map Room you can compare year-to-year or choose multiple-year animations for a particular species and watch the shifting patterns of distribution.
Most importantly, we want to thank you for taking the time to participate in this year’s Great Backyard Bird Count. As more and more observations are submitted, we get a clearer picture of where the birds are and how their patterns of distribution and numbers may be changing over time. This information becomes increasingly valuable the longer the count continues.
Thank you for joining this year’s GBBC—and save the date for next year’s Great Backyard Bird Count, scheduled for February 14-17, 2009!
Your friends at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and the National Audubon Society
