Since the weather is good this is a great week to get outside and count your birds.  The 15th annual Great Backyard Bird Count takes place this month across North America, and is sponsored by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.  Once you realize what a great variety and quantity of birds you have frequenting your back yard, stop by The Barn and pick up the right feeders and bird feeders for your local birds.
Anyone can participate in this free event and no registration is needed.
Here's all you do:
Watch and count birds for at least 15 minutes on any day of the count, February 17-20, 2012. Enter your results at www.birdcount.org, where you can watch as the tallies grow across the continent. The four-day count typically records more than 10 million observations.

"When thousands of people all tell us what they're seeing, we can detect patterns in how birds are faring from year to year," said Janis Dickinson, director of Citizen Science at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Although it's called the Great "Backyard" Bird Count, the count extends well beyond backyards. Lots of participants choose to head for national parks, nature centers, urban parks, nature trails, or nearby sanctuaries. For more information, including bird-ID tips, instructions, and past results, visit www.birdcount.org. The count also includes a photo contest and a prize drawing for participants who enter their bird checklists online.