The Great Backyard Bird Count

This year’s Great Backyard Bird Count will take place February 16th through 19th. From the website, participation is very simple:

1. Plan to count birds for at least 15 minutes during February 16–19, 2007. Count birds at as many places and on as many days as you like—just keep a separate list of counts for each day and/or location.
2. Count the greatest number of individuals of each species that you see together at any one time, and write it down.
3. Enter your results on the Great Backyard Bird Count web site.

The program itself is a great example of participatory science. I’m a little more stymied by the cost to join Project FeederWatch; it’s a barrier to participation that is hard to explain away. I offer to perform labor for you, but you want me to pay to have it count?

It’s a headscratcher, I admit.

(Nonetheless, I will be counting birds the weekend after next for them. I do it anyway for free.)