Yes, I saw that article too. Like many other places around the US, there are populations of threatened or endangered species in California (where I live) that are being monitored by local organizations in hopes of restoring numbers, and they recruit volunteers to help with counts. Do you participate in Project Feederwatch, by chance? That is one of the citizen science programs that is coming up this fall/winter that helps gather data (and is quite fun to do).
Im going out tomorrow and hope to have something to post in the afternoon! Thanks for hosting!
I have done Feeder Watch Projects in the past. It is fun to count and be aware. So many of our birds are being lost for lack of habitat. I have watched farmers here rip out miles of fence row trees to gain an extra few bushels of corn with no thought to how many creatures call those areas home. Hope you find some cooperative birds today!