A potential FeederWatch bird, this striking BirdSpotter submission was taken by Anita Bhala of a male Northern Cardinal during a snowfall.
Could a more perfect junco photo be composed? A Dark-eyed Junco in flight was the People’s Choice BirdSpotter Category 2 winner, taken Diane Marshman.
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We all enjoy attracting birds to our yards; birds enrich our lives and keep us in touch with the pulse of nature. You can make your feeding station efforts pay off all the more by providing information and photographs that feature the birds that visit your yard to Project FeederWatch, a popular annual census of birds that visit feeders across the United States and Canada. You have total freedom of when and how often you participate, and you contribute by identifying and counting the birds visiting your feeders periodically during the winter months.
An exciting companion of FeederWatch is the BirdSpotter Photo Contest, which conducts a contest of topical photos every two weeks through March. You can send one of your favorite photos for each of the categories every other week. If you’re not a photographer yet, you can review the photos other birders have shared and the winners for the first two categories.
Recently the “Spectacular Sparrows” category winners were announced, including the BirdSpotter People’s Choice winner, Diane Marshman from New Milford, Pennsylvania. Diane received the most votes from FeederWatch participants for her remarkable photo of a Dark-eyed Junco in flight. Also, the BirdSpotter Judges’ Choice winner, Jamin Taylor from Palmer, Alaska, received the most judges’ votes to make a winner of his beautiful photo of a Savannah Sparrow perched on blooming fireweed. You can see both winning photos at https://feederwatch.org/blog/ along with other winners including those of the first category: “Birds with Food or at the Feeder.”
You can also review impressive numbers of photos of cardinals and a fine collection of similar species, as the third category of the BirdSpotter Photo Contest nears the December 19 deadline at
The BirdSpotter Photo Contests are sponsored by Wild Birds Unlimited, and you can win a $100 gift card to buy quality Wild Birds Unlimited products and winners also receive a collection of Cornell Lab prizes. There are still five contest categories you can submit a photo to, so give it a try and join in the rest of the fun of Project FeederWatch. The photo contest categories and dates of competition are provided below:
BirdSpotter Photo Categories through February 27
Complete – Category 1: Nov 11 to 21 Birds with food or at a feeder
Complete – Category 2: Nov 25 to Dec 5 Spectacular Sparrows
Category 3: Dec 9 to 19 Cardinals and Friends
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Category 4: Dec 23 to Jan 2 Beautiful Blues and Grays
Category 5: Jan 6 to 16 Birds in Flight
Category 6: Jan 20 to 30 Yellow Birds
Category 7: Feb 3 to 13 Everyday Feeder Birds
Category 8: Feb 17 to 27 Potpourri – Your Favorite Bird Photo
For more information about the BirdSpotter photo competitions, see https://feederwatch.org/birdspotter2018-19/#weekly-categories
Project FeederWatch is a joint project of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and Bird Studies Canada. To get started or to keep involved in Project FeederWatch go to https://feederwatch.org/ To get more information about how birders participate in FeederWatch counts, see https://feederwatch.org/about/detailed-instructions/#choose-count-days
Share your backyard birding experiences and photos at editorstbw2@gmail.com