Another day of bird watching event which started on 12th February was Sunday, which saw many visitors gather at the Harry C. Barnes Nature Center on Shrub Road. The Sunday afternoon at the spot saw people assembled from different ages. They counted the birds they spotted for the Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC).

GBBC is an initiative of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and the National Audubon Society to promote public interest in bird’s habitat and life. The annual event invites people from many countries to take part. Last year it received participants from more than 100 countries; this popularity makes the event one of the most successful citizen-science projects. The project would continue till 15th February. All who share similar interest have to count birds for at least 15 minutes in as many places as they choose, recording species and reporting that data to GBBC.birdcount.org.

The Harry C. Barnes Nature Center was one such chosen spot by bird enthusiasts. The visitors with binoculars observed the birds through windows of the center into its backyard. The birds were in the tree line on the 70-acre property, while the participants were in a wooden area. Its windows had shapes of butterflies, birds and flowers sticks to prevent birds from flying into them. Birds which smash into windows die sometimes. Ornithologists have estimated that over 100 million birds die each year from such collisions.

Bird watchers enjoyed spotting variety of birds at Barnes; it was very convenient to observe variety of them. Some birds were stopped by a feeder directly in front of the windows that made them identify easily. Among many visitors was this 12-year-old Julianna West accompanied by her grandmother, Mary Moulton.

"I like to see kids getting excited about birds, they’re interesting because you can probably get closer to them than most other wildlife; you see more of them than mammals or other things”, said Moulton, who lives in Bristol. Julianna reported that she took notice of too many birds that were mourning dove, mockingbird, gold finch, tufted titmouse, blue jay and song sparrow.