WRONG DOG: Jef Harvey of Palmer, Alaska, amends his previous
note: “I’m very sorry, but I provided inaccurate information to you
(and, through you, to the good people of the greater Bradford area)
recently. I meant to tell you that the aerial phenomenon your
reader called a ‘snowbow’ is known as a ‘sun dog’ – and not a snow
dog, as I said in my previous communication… Honestly, if you
perform a Google image search for ‘sun dog,’ you really truly
actually will see many wonderful images. Forgive me, it was the
holiday season after all…”

BIRD COUNTS: Last year’s “winners” were the northern cardinal,
mourning dove, and dark-eyed juncos. What will be the most
frequently reported bird of 2009? That’s up to you – at least in
part.

The 12th annual Great Backyard Bird Count, a joint project of
the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and the National Audubon Society, is
scheduled for Feb. 13-16 so mark your calendar.

This free event is an opportunity for families, students, and
people of all ages to discover the wonders of nature in backyards,
schoolyards, and local parks, and, at the same time, make an
important contribution to conservation.

Volunteers take part by counting birds for at least 15 minutes
on one or more days of the event and reporting their sightings
online at www.birdcount.org.
The data help researchers understand bird population trends across
the continent, information that is critical for effective
conservation. In 2008, participants submitted more than 85,000
checklists, a new record.

Anyone who can identify even a few species can contribute to the
body of knowledge that is used to inform conservation efforts to
protect birds and biodiversity, said Audubon Education
Vice-President, Judy Braus.

The annual bird count has become a vital link in the arsenal of
continent wide bird-monitoring projects, said Cornell Lab of
Ornithology director John Fitzpatrick. With more than a decade of
data now in hand, the bird count has documented striking changes in
late-winter bird distributions.

Rounding out the top ten of the “most frequently reported birds”
of 2008 were the downy woodpecker; American goldfinch; blue jay;
house finch; tufted titmouse; black-capped chickadee; and American
crow.

Pennsylvania, with 4,326 checklists, was the third-highest
reporting state after New York and North Carolina.

Many more details for those interested are available online.