During the Great Backyard Bird Count 2008 Hainesport birders led New Jersey in the number of bird counts reported (67 lists), followed in the number two and three spots by East Brunswick (48 lists) and Highland Park (44 lists). Last year we were number one in the state. In number of species, though, Highland Park gained one (reaching 44 species) compared to last year (43 species). Are more kinds of birds really here, or did we just luck out in finding them? Only a long-term pattern will tell us, and that is just what this annual count is intended to produce.
This count, along with Project Feederwatch, are among several “citizen science” programs sponsored by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and National and Canadian Audubon Societies. Anyone, even kids, can participate and actually contribute to science. Species lists are compiled into a data base for a continuing year-by-year statistical picture of changes in bird populations from sea to shining sea.