Thanks to you, the 2012 Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC) broke another record! You and your fellow birders submitted more than 85,000 checklists during the four-day event, surpassing 2011’s all-time record by several thousand. Participants also identified a record 635 species and sent in thousands of stunning bird images from around the continent. In 2012 High Bridge reported 511 birds representing 31 species. View this year’s top 10 most-reported birds.

Some species showed up in GBBC reports for the very first time, including a Masked Duck in Texas—a bird that is usually found in the tropics. An Arctic Loon, seldom seen outside Alaska, was spotted in California. An Ivory Gull wandered down from the high Arctic to show up on a checklist in South Dakota.

For an even more detailed summary of this year’s results, visit the GBBC web site. You can explore maps, see beautiful photos, prize-drawing winners, and the list of cities and towns that topped their state or province for the number of checklists submitted—our “checklist champs.”

Count birds year round and help track the declining Rusty Blackbird. Your bird counting does not have to end with the GBBC. We invite you to participate in eBird, a free, year-round, bird-monitoring project developed by the National Audubon Society and the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. With eBird, you can track your list as well as explore reports from other parts of North America, Mexico, and the Caribbean.