Raptors, Cranes, and New Birding Brains: Our Great Backyard Bird Count 2025 Recap
The Great Backyard Bird Count 2025 was a wild ride, and Jack and I had a blast participating this year! It’s always fun to take part in this citizen science event, where people across the globe count and report the birds they see in their own backyards. For me, this year was all about stepping up my birding game. I’ve always been fascinated by wildlife, but birding has always felt a bit daunting especially with how quickly some of those little feathered guys zip around! But during the GBBC, I found myself identifying species like a pro Song Sparrows, Spotted Towhees. It felt like my birding knowledge grew every day!
Jack, on the other hand, had some serious raptor luck this year. I swear they had some kind of secret connection to the birds of prey. Everywhere we went, they spotted Bald Eagles, Red-tailed Hawks, and even a Red-shouldered Hawks! They’ve been birdwatching for a while now, but this year, Jack’s raptor sightings were on another level. I don’t know how they do it, but they’ve got an eagle eye for birds of prey, and I’m starting to think they’ve got some sort of raptor magnetism.
But let’s talk about Sandhill Cranes oh, my goodness, Jack saw so many of them! It felt like they were everywhere, calling out their signature, almost prehistoric “brrrrr,” making it hard not to feel like we were part of something ancient and wild. Watching these majestic birds soar across the sky was mesmerizing. I’m still not quite sure how Jack managed to spot so many, but I swear they could hear a Sandhill Crane from miles away. It definitely gave me some serious birding envy, but in the best way possible.
This year’s Great Backyard Bird Count wasn’t just about the numbers; it was about learning, connecting with nature, and celebrating all the birds, big, small, common, or rare. Jack and I had such a fun time comparing notes, and I loved that we could share our experiences with our followers on Instagram (@ecologyamateurs). It’s cool to know that our little birdwatching adventure was part of a much larger global effort to understand and protect the world’s birds.
By the end of it, I felt like I was a bit more tuned into the feathered world around me. The GBBC really gave me the chance to deepen my connection to local birds, and honestly, I’m already looking forward to next year. There’s always more to learn, more species to identify, and more raptors for Jack to spot, obviously. Until then, I’m going to keep practicing my bird ID skills, maybe even add some new birds to my list, and hopefully, Jack will take me along on another raptor-sighting adventure!