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

Pt. 2

Tags for May 11-17.

Pt. 2

Tags for May 4-10.

Pt. 2

Adding tags for Apr. 27 to May 3.

April 20 - 26

As well as the birds, a chipmunk was looking for birdseed on Friday.

Common birds: house sparrow (6 days), cardinal (pair 3 days, male +3 days), downy woodpecker (male), red-wing blackbird (1-2 males, 5 days), mourning dove (5 days), chickadee (2-3, 2 days), junco (5 days)), swan (3 days), cormorant, robin (4 days), Canada goose, starling (4 days), crow (3 days), grackle (2 days), blue jay, Turkey vulture (2 days), goldfinch (pair)

Spring visitors: song sparrow (1-2, 4 days), ruby-crowned kinglet (2 days)

Pt. 2

Adding post tags.

April 6 - 12

Common birds: junco (7 days), mourning dove (7 days), house sparrow (4-5 days), robin (7 days), Canada goose, starling (6 days), red-breasted nuthatch (3 days), chickadee (1-2, 4 days), cardinal (male 2 days, pair +3 days), downy woodpecker (male 1 day, female 1 day), red-wing blackbird (2 days), goldfinch

Spring visitors: brown creeper, song sparrow, chipping sparrow

Not sure: turkey vulture (likely), cormorant?

The turkey vulture is likely, seen flying overhead, large and dark.  The cormorant, well, water-bird like, possibly duck, but the shape looked like a cormorant.  The chipping sparrow, I'm pretty sure that's what it was.  It was a sparrow, with a red-brown cap, unstreaked breast, and seemed to have a little eye bar.  It was too quick to be totally sure - American Tree (has dark spot on breast), is also possible. 

See next post for additional tags. 

March 30 - April 5

Crazy weather -- Good Friday was beautiful, enough to eat lunch outside.  Easter Sunday, a light snow.  With the weather on Friday came a few season's firsts: The red-breasted nuthatch, song sparrow, golden crowned kinglet, hairy woodpecker, cowbird, and brown creeper.

Common birds: cardinal (pair, 6 days, male +1), mallard duck (2-3 days), Canada goose (3 days), robin (6 days), junco (6 days), house sparrow (6 days), starling (6 days), mourning dove (5 days), goldfinch, blue jay (4 days), chickadee (3 days), downy woodpecker (female, 2 days), common crow, grackle, red-wing blackbird (2-3 days), red-breasted nuthatch (2 days), great blue heron, house finch

Spring visitors: song sparrow (2 days), golden-crowned kinglet, hairy woodpecker, brown-headed cowbird (1-2 days), brown creeper

March 16 - 22

Welcome to spring, and a busy week of birding!  I've had one or two 'whatsits'.  Well, one.  I'm pretty sure the second was a merlin, seen perched on Sunday evening.  It was certainly a bird of prey, small (blue jay or slightly bigger size), dark back, streaking on white front (streaking appeared more vertical than horizontal).  Its wingbeats when it flew off were rapid, flight steady. 

The first 'whatsit' was Friday.  Also perched on top of the big evergreen tree, briefly.  It had some red on the back of its head/nape, and was roughly blue jay sized, but woodpecker shaped, with a long straight bill.  I think it wasn't big enough to be a pileated woodpecker.  A flicker, maybe, we do get them fairly regularly and I have seen one up there before.  But even though it was hard to be sure in the lighting conditions, it seemed to have more red.  Its flight was steady, quick, and dipped up and down a little. It may have been a red-bellied woodpecker (not to be confused with red-breasted sapsucker, which is a Western bird).  The range is possible, though I don't remember seeing one before. 

Some of my hawks were definitely red-tailed.  One day there were 3 flying up behind our house.  Another day I saw two, en route from work to home, not in the same place as each other.  Saturday, also out and about, there were 2 birds, one was probably a red-tail, the other was something different, maybe a turkey vulture?  I wasn't able to really pay attention to it. 

Common birds: blue jay (3 days), common crow, cardinal (pair, 5 days), swan, Canada goose (several, 4 days), red-tailed (likely) hawk (1-3, flying, different locations, 4 days), junco (several, 5 days), robin (1-several, 5 days), chickadee (1-2, 5 days), starling (several, 2 days), grackle, house sparrow (several, 5 days), downy woodpecker (male, 2 days), house finch (pair 2 days, 2 males in one of those days), mourning dove (2), goldfinch (1-2)

Spring visitors: red-wing blackbird (male, 1-3, 2 days), merlin (a small falcon)

Whatsit: woodpecker ID??

March 2-8

Common birds: cardinal (pair, male +1 day),  robin (several), junco, chickadee (2), Canada goose, common crow

En route: red-tailed hawk, ducks, geese, hawks (ID? red-tail likely, 1 flying, 3 perched)

February 23 - March 1

Saw the red-tailed hawk perched on Friday (evening) & Saturday (midday).  On Saturday it was there twice - it perched a few minutes, flew away, then came back shortly after (that is assuming it was the same individual). 

Common birds: junco (plural, 3 days), cardinal (pair, 3 days), house sparrow (2 days), chickadee, Canada goose, common crow, red-tailed hawk (2 days, perched)

February 16-22

Common birds: junco (5 days), house sparrow (3 days), cardinal (pair, 3 days, female +1 day), chickadee (1-2, 3 days), Canada goose (several, 2 days), red-tailed hawk, mourning dove

En route: hawks (red-tailed likely, plus 1-2 smaller unidentified)

October 9

Common birds: chickadee (3+), goldfinch, house sparrow, mourning dove, downy woodpecker (male), red-breasted nuthatch, turkey vulture (19+), cardinal (pair), Canada goose

Fall visitors: white throated sparrow, golden crowned kinglet, brown creeper

Not sure: I saw the/a small bird of prey, actually two of them, perched and flying.  I'm still wondering what this is, if it's a merlin, or a peregrine falcon, or if I am seeing both on different days. I wrote merlin? in my notes. 

There were a number of turkey vultures.  Some were flying quite low over the garden.  I counted 19, there may have been more. 

May 27 - June 6

After the spring migration, my keeping track has been patchy.  This post includes birds seen between May 27 and June 6, in addition to those already posted.

Common birds: house finch (pair), robin, starling, grackle, cardinal (pair), house sparrow, Canada goose?, blue jay?, tern?

Spring visitors: redwing blackbird (pair)

May 31

Common birds: cardinal (pair), grackle, house sparrow, starling, Canada goose

Spring visitors: redwing blackbird, veery

May 29

Common birds: robin, house sparrow, grackle, starling, Canada goose, mourning dove, cardinal (pair)

Spring visitors: redwing blackbird, blackburnian warbler

Heard: warbler

I've been hearing a warbler in a tree for a few days, but couldn't see it through the foliage.  I saw it today, and my thinking it's a blackburnian warbler is right. 

May 27

Common birds: house sparrow, grackle, gull, cardinal, Canada goose

Spring visitors: redwing blackbird (pair)

Heard: warbler

Not sure: I saw a bird which I described as red-brown and large.  I don't know if it was the brown thrasher (see May 8), or a hawk.  The thrasher may be right, if it had seemed hawk shaped I likely would have added that in my notes. 

May 3

Common birds: crow, blue jay, robin, cardinal (pair), downy woodpecker (male), grackle, mourning dove, Canada goose

Overhead: gull, turkey vulture, hawk (red-tailed?)

Spring visitors: black-throated green warbler, yellow-rumped warbler

April 29

Common birds: swan, house sparrow, Canada goose, robin

Maybe: cormorant (?), swallow (?)

April 22-24

Common birds (24th): swan, Canada goose