First bird

Well, it's an omen.

The first bird I heard was one I didn't recognize (edited to add: it was a phoebe). Then, in quick succession: crow, blue jay, Carolina wren.

The first bird I saw was too far off to make out, just a dark shape against the sky. The first one I could recognize: a sparrow. Yes, a white-throated sparrow, but still.

However, they all count in the Christmas Bird Count!

The 115th Christmas Bird Count begins on Sunday, December 14th, 2014, and runs through Monday, January 5th, 2015. The longest running Citizen Science survey in the world, Christmas Bird Count provides critical data on population trends. Tens of thousands of participants know that it is also a lot of fun. Data from the over 2,300 circles are entered after the count and become available to query under the Data & Research link.