Barbara and I participate in the Great Backyard Bird Count every February. The amount of time required is a minimum of 15 minutes. You list the birds you can identify and the maximum number of birds of each species that you see at one time. Easy checklist to fill out at www.birdcount.org. We always enjoy it even if that weekend in February in the Georgia Piedmont is nasty. I encourage you to join in. You can also go to other locations like at national park locations: Kennesaw National Battlefield, Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area, Mammoth Cave National Park, and many others.