I don’t think you need to worry about the bluebirds. Our yard is fairly wooded and we see them all of the time. I think they are here in the Atlanta area more in the Winter than Summer. The ones in our yard eat seed and suet. As far as an “official” bluebird count, I don’t think there is one. If you are interested in recording the birds you see and having the information be used for science, I’d suggest you sign up forhttp://ebird.org/content/ebird” rel=”nofollow”> Ebird which is sponsored by the Cornell Lab of ornithology. It’s free to use and works well. We use it and have been happy with it.

The great horned owl has a distinct call. Here is the page on the owl from “All About Birds”-another Cornell Lab project.

We’re pretty new to all of this as well. There is so much to learn. Hopefully you will keep reading the blog.

I saw a pair of Eastern bluebirds in my urban shady yard in Kirkwood this morning. I am new to this, a) I thought they were grub eaters and there they were, eating seed. b) do I need to report their location somewhere or is that just that once a year bluebird count c) I thought they liked open fields more than the woodland d) do you have any advice or will they be fine?

This morning it was a bonanza of fine birds enjoying the warmer weather – cardinals, those bluebirds, woodpeckers ( did not look up what kind) and mourning doves of course.

Enjoyed your post about the owl – we have had some sort of owls (parent and offspring? one is much larger than the other) in our yard. What was the call like for the horned owl – ours sounded like barking! And the mating call was extraordinary!

Thanks for your time for this newbie.