So I thought, "What the heck. In winter the bees aren't flying that much. You may want to watch birds."

Cornell Lab of Ornithology has a "citizen science" project where you watch birds coming into your feeders...oddly enough it's called "Project Feeder Watch" and it starts November 13.

What you do is count numbers and species of birds for 2 consecutive days each week and report the numbers to Cornell. I find it an enjoyable activity during the winter. Here's the website: There's a $15 fee for materials and site maintenance, but they have plenty of other free programs.

For you folks in Canada (not Canada, Texas), Bird Studies Canada has the same program. The website is: