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Great Backyard Bird Count 2015

(Contributed Image)

A hundred thousand blackbirds, flocked together but of various species, is the top number reported on any Pennsylvania to date in the 2015 Great Backyard Bird Count, which continues worldwide through Monday, Feb. 16. Stephen Cottrell made that report from a spot in Chester County.

The Pennsylvania Game Commission's Middle Creek Wildlife Management Area on the Lancaster-Lebanon county line at Kleinfeltersville has provided the largest number of a single species: an estimated 10,000 snow geese reported by Timothy Becker.

Other top species counts across Pennsylvania include 3,000 gulls at Point State Park in Allegheny County by Shannon Thompson, 2,000 red-winged blackbirds and 2,000 common grackles in a field in Lancaster County by Joyce Netke, 1,000 Canada gee in a field in Lancaster County by Robert Stull, 1,000 ring-billed gulls on Lake Clarke along the Susquehanna River in Lancaster County by Bill Oyler, 570 American crows at Walking Purchase Park in Lehigh County by Edward Sinkler, and 500 crows at the Lebanon Landfill in Lebanon County by Timothy Becker.



As the third day of the GBBC neared its mid-point, Pennsylvanians had submitted 2,624 checklists, standing the state second to California, which has contributed 2,722 checklists.

Rounding out the top 10 states are New York, 2,530 checklists; Florida, 1,920; Texas, 1,878; Virginia, 1,625; North Carolina, 1,571; Georgia, 1,408; Michigan, 1,339; and Ohio, 1326.



Worldwide, counters had submitted 52,484 checklists, reporting 3,738 species and more than 6 million individual birds. Across the U.S. 609 species of birds had been reported on 37,949 checklists.

The 18th annual Great Backyard Bird Count runs today through Monday, Feb. 16. Anyone can count birds at any location for at least 15 minutes on one or more days of the count and enter their sightings at www.BirdCount.org.



The information gathered by tens of thousands of volunteers helps track changes in bird populations on a massive scale.

The GBBC is a joint project of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and the National Audubon Society with partner Bird Studies Canada.

Last year more than 142,000 people from 135 countries reported more than 4,200 species and more than 17 million individual birds, providing a snapshot of winter bird populations and distribution in North America and beyond.

Full information on how to participate is available at the Great Backyard Bird Count website.



Have you submitted a checklist? Share your observations and thoughts in the comment stream attached to this post. Or, if you not registered to comment on PennLive.com, send a note to mschneck@pennlive.com.



And, check back at PennLive.com throughout the weekend for regular reports on the progress of the Great Backyard Bird Count, nationally and right here in Central Pennsylvania.