In 20 minutes, I identified 18 individual birds. It’s National Bird Week and the Aussie backyard Bird count in on.It’s been calling to me for the past few days, so I took the time to sit down in my backyard in Girard’s Hill and look around me.I saw the green of the tree branches with their Spring flowers, the blue sky above and the movement and life all around me.I’d already downloaded the Aussie Backyard Bird Count App (#AussieBirdCount) on my phone and registered myself (http://www.aussiebirdcount.org.au).Now all I had to do was type in any birds I saw. Easy.I could hear happy birds chirping and squawking from the dense tree cover around me but couldn’t see all of them. I could hear Currawongs calling in the distance.Then a Yellow-throated Miner flew past, heading for the cover of a tree branch, where it started making noises.I knew it wasn’t an Indian Myna - or Common Myna - they have a darker coloured head and aren’t an indigenous Australian species. To be sure, I clicked on the Bird Field Guide in the Bird Count App, typed in Miner and scrolled through the types of Miners that I might see in my location.The guide handily told me that some of them were unlikely to be seen in my registered location. Great news when you’re not sure about which bird it was. Pictured: Rainbow Bee Eater.Bird watching is an act of meditation. It’s about awareness, focus, staying present and vigilant as you look for birds.It’s very relaxing – often bringing a smile to your face as you watch the antics of birds hopping around the tree branches.Especially Lorikeets – they are like the jokers of the bird world and carry on as they search for flowers and seeds in the trees.I’m not a novice at bird watching and I thought my bird identification was pretty good – until I start having to be specific about which species of bird it was. Was it a Rainbow Lorikeet, a Little Lorikeet or a Scaly-breasted Lorikeet? Was it a Grey or a Pied Butcher bird?To be sure, I check the app’s field guide again.Now I’m clearer on which is the Rainbow Lorikeet (it has a blue chest) and which is the Little Lorikeet.The Little Lorikeet has a small red face and a bit of colour behind its head, while the scaly-breasted one appears mostly green.I’ve learned something about Lorikeets now and feeling more confident in bird identification.A few birds fly past too quickly to tell what they are – their feathers are a brown-yellow colour, but I’m not sure, so don’t add them to the count.One of the ways to tell a Currawong from a Magpie when you see them at a distance (apart from their very different calls) is that the Currawong has yellow eyes and will lift and lower its tail when it lands on a branch – a Magpie won’t. And if you see the underside of their wings, a Currawong has a white markings near the tip of each wing.The time goes too quickly, and the app tells me my 20 minutes is up.In total, I’ve seen 5 Yellow throated Miners, 3 Rainbow Lorikeets, 5 Little Lorikeets, 1 Pied Currawong, 1 Australian raven, 1 Grey Butcherbird, 1 Blue-faced Honeyeater and 1 Straw-necked Ibis.BirdLife Australia’s 2019 Aussie Backyard Bird Count is on until October 27, so you have a few more days to take a little time to chill out and watch birds.You can do it anywhere – it doesn’t have to be in your backyard – it could be at the beach, the main street in town, the schoolyard – anywhere.You can count as many times as you like over the week – just keep each session to a 20 minute period and submit your results to the Aussie Backyard Bird count, either through the free app, or via the website.The app keeps a live count of how many submissions are made and how many birds counted. At the time of this story’s publication, nearly 2 million birds had been counted nationally and over 50,000 checklists submitted. Data and results from the count will be used by BirdLife Australia to help in a number of ways, such as on-ground management, analysing bird adaptation to local developments, or identifying good ‘birding spots’ for ecotourism.Lismore City Council’s Environmental Strategies Officer Wendy Neilan said council was supporting the Bird Count to help deliver its Biodiversity Management Strategy. “The count will give us an accurate understanding of what birds are found where. This will allow us to better manage and preserve habitats for these species now and into the future,” she said. “Spring it a great time as the warmer weather means birds are starting to re-appear from the winter hideaways which is why BirdLife Australia is predicting a record-breaking count in one of Australia’s largest citizen science projects. “Spring also means the birth of many new birds, and data from the Aussie Backyard Bird Count will help BirdLife Australia keep an eye on bird populations across the Northern Rivers and the country.You can register for the count and find educational materials for schools, childcare centres and other educational groups on the website http://www.aussiebirdcount.org.auIf you don’t like to use “smart” devices and apps, you can submit your counts later via a printable form also available on the website.The Aussie Backyard Bird Count only takes place once per year in National Bird Week, whereas Birds In Backyards runs seasonal surveys (four per year) for you to take part in. You can find out more about Birds in Backyards at http://www.birdsinbackyards.net/.