GBBC 2025

Aldo Leopold said "There are some who can live without wild things and some who cannot!" The tens of thousands of birders who are submitting checklists these past few days are proudly proclaiming that they cannot live without wild things. Yes, it is that time of the year when birders around the world get counting - they go out and make checklists of all the birds they can see either in their neck of the woods or in special places - as part of the Great Backyard Bird Count 2025.

This is how I chose to spend President's Day weekend - celebrate the species around us that make the earth what it is! It is also a demonstration of how nature and wildlife know no boundaries requiring humanity to work across lines on a map to conserve such wonders.

In my neck of the woods it is a great time to see winter visitors stopping by on their migration journeys that have gone on for millennia. The highlight of this year was the lone Long-Tailed Duck which seems to have had a faulty GPS and ended up in San Elijo Lagoon and becoming a mini celebrity. 

A lost Long-Tailed duck has become a minor celebrity

Here are some of the beautiful birds that made my weekend! 

Saw a pod of white pelicans fly by and settle down

A Black Necked Stilt

Magnificent Ospreys

Although I've seen Ruddy Ducks many time before this was the first time I got a great pic of their blue bill

Good things do come in small packages too

Birds are in the news for all the wrong reasons. As of December 300million birds have succumbed to the bird flu. 280 million of those cases were from poultry but wild birds haven't been spared. There is so much we don't know about the virus and this is an area that needs research funding. It is very hard to motivate the current government to do anything for conservation sake, but this one can have a direct impact on human health and so maybe this might get attention. 

In all I saw 52 unique species this weekend within 5-10 miles from where I live. And as I write this, 7862 species of birds have been observed by birders around the world in the past 4 days. Given there are about 10,000 to 11,000 known species of birds this is a huge achievement.  "For us of the minority, the opportunity to see geese is more important than television. And the chance to find a pasque-flower is a right as inalienable as free speech" said Aldo Leopold in the Sand County Almanac. Even before I saw the Long Tailed Duck I agreed with him wholeheartedly!