100 Yard Birds (And Counting)!

Lindsay and I obtained possession of our 10 acre property and house across the street from a state park on April 30, 2007. We immediately began keeping a yard list of birds, mammals, reptiles, amphibians, insects, and spiders. On our yard list, we include any species that is on or can be seen or heard from anywhere on our property. This morning, we reached a milestone; 100 species of yard birds!

I had just poured a bowl of cereal and decided to look at our yard list to find out on what date we started seeing certain birds migrating through last year. Our yard list is kept on a small table under the window in the front of the house, where our feeders are located. I took a quick glance around the base of our platform feeder and immediately saw the raspberry colors of a male Purple Finch! Knowing that this was yard bird #100, I ran upstairs to wake Lindsay up so that she could join me in the thrill of reaching this milestone. She followed me back downstairs and we were able to watch this little finch for a few minutes, and compare it to a male House Finch that also showed up at our feeders.

Below is a complete list of our yard birds to date, in order by date observed. The dates in parentheses are the dates we initially saw or heard a given species. We've also added notes on which species were seen or heard on our property (with notes on nesting) versus those observed from our property. If you are interested in seeing pictures or paintings of any of these species, click on one of the links under the Bird Website Essentials heading to the right and search for the species of interest.

1. Barn Swallow (5/8/2007) - nesting on property, including on front porch
2. Field Sparrow (5/8/2007) - on property, likely nesting
3. Song Sparrow (5/8/2007) - on property, likely nesting
4. Red-winged Blackbird (5/8/2007) - on property, likely nesting
5. Yellow Warbler (5/8/2007) - on property, likely nesting
6. Common Yellowthroat (5/8/2007) - on property, likely nesting
7. White-throated Sparrow (5/8/2007) - on property
8. American Robin (5/8/2007) - on property
9. Northern Cardinal (5/8/2007) - on property
10. Ring-necked Pheasant (5/8/2007) - heard from property
11. Mourning Dove (5/8/2007) - on property
12. Canada Goose (5/8/2007) - flyover; also in wetland at park seen from property
13. Mallard (5/8/2007) - on property in small pond
14. House Wren (5/9/2007) - nesting on property
15. Great Blue Heron (5/9/2007) - on property around small pond
16. Gray Catbird (5/9/2007) - on property
17. Eastern Bluebird (5/9/2007) - on property
18. American Goldfinch (5/9/2007) - on property
19. American Crow (5/9/2007) - on property
20. Killdeer (5/9/2007) - flyover
21. Red-bellied Woodpecker (5/9/2007) - on property
22. European Starling (5/9/2007) - nesting on property
23. Chipping Sparrow (5/9/2007) - on property, likely nesting
24. Double-crested Cormorant (5/9/2007) - seen from property flying over park
25. House Sparrow (5/9/2007) - on property, likely nesting
26. House Finch (5/9/2007) - on property
27. Red-tailed Hawk (5/10-13/2007) - on property
28. Eastern Phoebe (5/10-13/2007) - on property, maybe nesting
29. Osprey (5/10-13/2007) - flyover
30. Warbling Vireo (5/10-13/2007) - heard from property
31. Turkey Vulture (5/10-13/2007) - flyover
32. Willow Flycatcher (5/18/2007) - on property, maybe nesting
33. Blue Jay (5/18/2007) - on property
34. Sandhill Crane (5/18/2007) - flyover
35. Eastern Wood-Pewee (5/18/2007) - heard from property
36. Cedar Waxwing (5/18/2007) - on property
37. Rock Pigeon (5/18/2007) - nesting on property
38. Brown-headed Cowbird (5/18/2007) - on property
39. Tennessee Warbler (5/21/2007) - heard from property
40. Yellow-breasted Chat (5/24/2007) - on property
41. Ruby-throated Hummingbird (5/24/2007) - on property
42. Great Egret (5/27/2007) - seen from property in wetland at park
43. Red-eyed Vireo (5/27/2007) - heard from property
44. Baltimore Oriole (5/28/2007) - on property, maybe nesting
45. Common Grackle (5/28/2007) - on property
46. Indigo Bunting (5/28/2007) - on property
47. Yellow-billed Cuckoo (5/28/2007) - on property
48. Downy Woodpecker (5/28/2007) - on property
49. Green Heron (6/2/2007) - on property, maybe nesting around pond
50. Black-billed Cuckoo (6/2/2007) - on property
51. White-eyed Vireo (6/2/2007) - on property
52. Tufted Titmouse (6/2/2007) - on property
53. Yellow-throated Vireo (6/10/2007) - heard from property
54. Wood Duck (6/11/2007) - on property around pond
55. Red-headed Woodpecker (6/11/2007) - seen from property in wetland at park
56. Tree Swallow (6/11/2007) - seen from property in wetland at park
57. White-breasted Nuthatch (6/11/2007) - on property
58. Wood Thrush (6/11/2007) - heard from property
59. Brown Thrasher (6/15/2007) - on property
60. Eastern Kingbird (6/15/2007) - on property
61. Wild Turkey (6/17/2007) - heard from property
62. Cooper's Hawk (8/19/2007) - on property
63. Eastern Screech Owl (8/28/2007) - on property
64. Red-breasted Nuthatch (9/9/2007) - on property
65. Northern Flicker (10/7/2007) - on property
66. Yellow-rumped Warbler (10/14/2007) - on property
67. White-crowned Sparrow (10/14/2007) - on property
68. Dark-eyed Junco (10/14/2007) - on property
69. Mute Swan (10/23/2007) - seen from property in wetland at park
70. Black-capped Chickadee (10/24/2007) - on property
71. Ring-necked Duck (10/28/2007) - seen from property in wetland at park
72. American Tree Sparrow (11/14/2007) - on property
73. Northern Shoveler (11/17/2007) - seen from property in wetland at park
74. Bufflehead (11/17/2007) - seen from property in wetland at park
75. Red-shouldered Hawk (11/17/2007) - heard from property
76. Pine Siskin (11/18/2007) - on property
77. Common Redpoll (11/18/2007) - on property
78. Gadwall (11/24/2007) - seen from property in wetland at park
79. American Coot (11/24/2007) - seen from property in wetland at park
80. American Wigeon (11/24/2007) - seen from property in wetland at park
81. Northern Shrike (11/24/2007) - on property
82. Hairy Woodpecker (11/25/2007) - on property
83. Northern Harrier (12/8/2007) - seen from property
84. Rough-legged Hawk (12/23/2007) - on property
85. Great Horned Owl (1/28/2008) - heard from property
86. American Kestrel (2/9/2008) - on property
87. American Woodcock (3/13/2008) - on property, maybe nesting
88. Ring-billed Gull (3/13/2008) - flyover
89. Hooded Merganser (3/16/2008) - seen from property in wetland at park
90. Pied-billed Grebe (4/1/2008) - seen from property in wetland at park
91. Rusty Blackbird (4/8/2008) - on property
92. Eastern Towhee (4/13/2008) - on property
93. Golden-crowned Kinglet (4/15/2008) - on property
94. Lesser Scaup (4/15/2008) - seen from property in wetland at park
95. Rose-breasted Grosbeak (4/30/2008) - on property
96. Orchard Oriole (5/7/2008) - on property, maybe nesting
97. Barred Owl (10/10/2008) - heard from property
98. Belted Kingfisher (11/6/2008) - on property around pond
99. Snow Bunting (12/21/2008) - on property
100. Purple Finch (3/1/2008) - on property