My Yard List: Why Stop At 100?

Here I was, all excited to get to species number one hundred on my yard list. I keep track of the birds actually in the yard, as well as those seen from the yard, as in flying over (F).

This is a rather bizarre list, as we live in the foothills between the boreal forest and the prairie grasslands, and birds come from both ecozones. We live a block from the Bow River, which swans, cranes and other birds use as a road map during migration.

My yard has conifers, deciduous trees, fruiting shrubs, 11 birdfeeders, and 3 birdbaths. Even with all this, there is absolutely no explanation for the hooded warbler, who should have been in Florida for the 3 autumn months he was here in 2004.

I was so sure I was carefully updating the list as birds appeared so that the numbers were correct. I had even written a one-hundredth-bird-in-the-yard blog post in my head.

Sigh. Meet yard bird #102.

Swainson's Thrush

 

Apparently I wasn’t as meticulous as I thought. It turns out I forgot to add the white-throated and fox sparrows that showed up last year.

Fox Sparrow

 

White-throated Sparrow

 

And before I could even get this post written, a least flycatcher hopped onto the yard list at #103, and no, I don’t have a picture of it. Trying to capture a tiny flycatcher with a point-and-shoot camera is my definition of insanity…

So here’s the list as it now stands. With this post written, I’m heading onto the back deck to see if I can add to it!

  1. American White Pelican (F)
  2. Great Blue Heron (F)
  3. Trumpeter Swan (F)
  4. Canada Goose (F)
  5. American Wigeon (F)
  6. Mallard (F)
  7. Common Goldeneye (F)
  8. Osprey (F)
  9. Bald Eagle (F)
  10. Sharp-shinned Hawk
  11. Swainson’s Hawk (F)
  12. Red-tailed Hawk (F)
  13. American Kestrel
  14. Merlin
  15. Peregrine Falcon (F)
  16. Prairie Falcon (F)
  17. Chukar
  18. Sandhill Crane (F)
  19. Franklin’s Gull (F)
  20. Ring-billed Gull (F)
  21. California Gull (F)
  22. Rock Pigeon
  23. Mourning Dove
  24. Budgerigar (yes I know, but it was flying around the neighborhood for months)
  25. Great Horned Owl
  26. Long-eared Owl
  27. Boreal Owl
  28. Northern Saw-whet Owl
  29. Common Nighthawk (F)
  30. Ruby-throated Hummingbird
  31. Northern Flicker
  32. Downy Woodpecker
  33. Hairy Woodpecker
  34. Pileated Woodpecker
  35. Western Wood-Pewee
  36. Willow Flycatcher
  37. Least Flycatcher
  38. Eastern Phoebe
  39. Northern Shrike
  40. Gray Jay
  41. Blue Jay
  42. Black-billed Magpie
  43. American Crow
  44. Common Raven
  45. Tree Swallow
  46. Bank Swallow (F)
  47. Barn Swallow (F)
  48. Black-capped Chickadee
  49. Mountain Chickadee
  50. Red-breasted Nuthatch
  51. White-breasted Nuthatch
  52. Brown Creeper
  53. House Wren
  54. Golden-crowned Kinglet
  55. Ruby-crowned Kinglet
  56. Veery
  57. American Robin
  58. Hermit Thrush
  59. Swainson’s Thrush
  60. Gray Catbird
  61. European Starling
  62. Bohemian Waxwing
  63. Cedar Waxwing
  64. Tennessee Warbler
  65. Orange-crowned Warbler
  66. Yellow Warbler
  67. Yellow-rumped Warbler
  68. Cape May Warber
  69. Blackburnian Warbler
  70. MacGillivray’s Warbler
  71. Hooded Warbler
  72. Ovenbird
  73. Wilson’s Warbler
  74. Western Tanager
  75. American Tree Sparrow
  76. Chipping Sparrow
  77. Clay-colored Sparrow
  78. Fox Sparrow
  79. Savannah Sparrow
  80. White-throated Sparrow
  81. Grasshopper Sparrow
  82. Song Sparrow
  83. Lincoln’s Sparrow
  84. Harris’s Sparrow
  85. White-crowned Sparrow
  86. Golden-crowned Sparrow
  87. Dark-eyed Junco
  88. Red-winged Blackbird
  89. Yellow-headed Blackbird
  90. Rusty Blackbird
  91. Brewer’s Blackbird
  92. Common Grackle
  93. Brown-headed Cowbird
  94. Baltimore Oriole
  95. Pine Grosbeak
  96. Cassin’s Finch
  97. House Finch
  98. Red Crossbill
  99. White-winged Crossbill
  100. Common Redpoll
  101. Pine Siskin
  102. American Goldfinch
  103. House Sparrow

3 Comments

  1. Very nice captures Pat! That is an impressive yard list you have there.

  2. Great photos Pat! That’s an impressive yard list.

  3. Why indeed? Well, those three species are an early start on your way to 200 yard birds.

Comments are closed