June 1 - 7

Seeing a good number of butterflies - especially the yellow (Eastern Tiger) Swallowtail.  Have also heard the chickadees, the song sparrow, and what I think is a chipping sparrow. 

Common birds: house sparrow (7 days), cardinal (pair 5 days), red-wing blackbird (pair 3 days, female +1 day, male + 2 days), robin (5 days), starling (6 days), mallard duck (2 days), Canada goose, grackle (2 days), goldfinch (2 days), turkey vulture (2 days), blue jay, mourning dove, great blue heron

Spring visitors: hairy woodpecker, brown-headed cowbird (female, 2 days), baltimore oriole

May 11 - 17

Some bird migration still - not seeing as many warblers as the last couple of springs, but seeing a few different things.  I saw a mourning warbler this week, a new one for our garden, as well as the gray catbird, which although I've heard/seen it elsewhere I don't think I've seen it in the garden before.  Another new one for the garden is the Lincoln's sparrow I've been seeing. Then, there's a warbler-like noise I heard as well.

The thrushes are tricky, the veery and hermit thrush I can ID, the Swainson's and gray-cheeked look very similar, but their song is a bit different.  Based on seeing and hearing it, I've decided to call this week's thrush the Swainson's, but I might be incorrect.

The great-crested flycatcher wasn't in the garden, it was in a local public garden/park, but still counts! I saw a warbler there, in trees, not brightly coloured.  Based on appearance and sound, I think Tenessee warbler, but not certain. 

I've also been hearing what I think is the chipping sparrow.

Common birds: chickadee (1-2, 4 days), red-wing blackbird (male, 7 days, female, 1-2, 2 days), house sparrow (7 days), swan (2 days), Canada goose (2 days), robin (7 days), blue jay (1-2, 4 days), grackle (6 days), cardinal (pair 5 days, male +1), turkey vulture (2 days), starling (5 days), mourning dove ( 1-2, 5 days), goldfinch (5 days), red-breasted nuthatch (2 days), red-tailed hawk (3 days, flying), cormorant, house finch, mallard duck, downy woodpecker

Spring visitors: hairy woodpecker, song sparrow (3 days), Lincoln's sparrow, veery (2 days), yellow-rumped warbler (ID?), palm warbler (ID?), brown-headed cowbird (pair), great crested flycatcher, gray catbird, mourning warbler, magnolia warbler, Swainson's thrush*, baltimore oriole

pt. 2

Adding tags for March 30 to April 5.  On one or two days, it was hard to tell whether the blackbird shaped bird I was seeing was the redwing or the cowbird, because of the light conditions.  Other days it was clear. 

November 10

I think I actually caught up with my posts - at least for now.  I might continue my posts, but do them weekly, rather than trying to make a post for every day. 

When I arrived at work this morning, I heard a bird call, looked for the bird, and found a woodpecker in a tree.  I watched it for a couple of minutes, and have identified it as a hairy woodpecker. 

It is slightly bigger than the downy, with a longer bill, and the white feathers on the sides of the tail do not have black spots, whereas they do in a downy woodpecker. 

Common birds: hairy woodpecker

the hairy / October 29

The hawk perched on the tree again today.  I saw the downy woodpecker male, and either saw it again, or saw a hairy woodpecker.  The two are very similar, the hairy a little bigger, and this seemed a bit bigger than what I often see, but I might be wrong on that. 

Common birds: house sparrow, downy woodpecker (male), starling, blue jay, red-tailed hawk

Fall visitors: junco

Unidentified/maybe: hairy woodpecker??