Steve Gordon
At the end of 2011, our backyard list stood at 97 species after 36 years of watching birds at our home in the Friendly Neighborhood (see the March 2012 Quail). This is an update for 2012 and early 2013. I’m sure all avid Quail readers have been waiting anxiously to see when and if the 100-species threshold could be reached.
Steve Gordon
At the end of 2011, our backyard list stood at 97 species after 36 years of watching birds at our home in the Friendly Neighborhood (see the March 2012 Quail). This is an update for 2012 and early 2013. I’m sure all avid Quail readers have been waiting anxiously to see when and if the 100-species threshold could be reached.
On May 18, while sitting on our deck, my wife Susan and I counted eight Cliff Swallows overhead (#98). After the March 2012 snow storm, the birch tree across Van Buren Street was taken down. On May 19, before it was felled, it was the perfect perch for an Olive-sided Flycatcher (#99). The next bird seen or heard in or from the yard would be the magical number 100.
On October 17, I took the garbage can out to the curb in darkness at 6:00 a.m. As the paper delivery person handed me the newspaper in our driveway, I heard an owl call from an ash tree at the corner of West 24th and Tyler. I walked to the corner and identified a Northern Saw-whet Owl and thought, “What a great yard bird for number 100!” I quickly sobered up when I realized that I was a block from home in the dark, wearing my slippers, pajamas, and bathrobe. When yard listing, craziness has its rewards.
In December, our grandchildren stayed overnight. In the morning, they called from the front room window, “Papa, the crows are in the garbage. Come see.” The neighbor’s garbage can had spilled onto the street and American Crows and several gulls, including one Herring Gull (#101), were feeding on scraps. The year 2012 ended with 101 birds on our yard list.
On March 28, 2013, a pair of Eurasian Collared-doves (#102) visited our back yard. After 37½ years, we continue to enjoy the Purple Finches and Evening Grosbeaks in early spring, the crowned sparrows and Dark-eyed (Oregon) Juncos in winter, and our nesting Black-capped Chickadees and Violet-green Swallows. And we keep our eyes and ears ready for #103.
Joseph Grinnell, famous biologist and zoologist, is reported to have said something along these lines: “If I sit in my office looking out the window long enough, it is only a matter of time before every species of bird in North America flies by.” While he was speaking about bird disbursement and the impacts of habitat change on species distribution over a long, long period of time, I am convinced that applying his theory to our yard, and given another 37 years, our yard list can grow to 200 bird species.
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