[cobirds] I only have 43 species on my yard list, but....

I do have one that's probably not on many others' lists--American Dipper.

When we moved to a house on Boulder Creek (between Eben Fine Park and 6th) three years ago, I had high hopes for a lengthy yard list from birds moving through the trees along the creek.  But, I have discovered that I have several obstacles to a robust list:

1) No clumps of shrubs along this stretch of the creek

2)  Huge Crack Willows towering over the other trees.  The birds don't seem to like them very well, even though they're covered in aphids in the summer and fall

3)  The big trees obscure my view of the sky, a good place to add new species flying over

On the plus side, a small flock of Juncos have spent each winter sheltering under a sprawling thorn-covered rose bush on the hillside, eating birdseed off my lower deck.  I get all 3 nuthatches, and a pair of Cordilleran Flycatcher has nested both summers.  My many chokecherries can attract birds like Tanagers in late summer.  And I've had Mountain Lion and Bear tracks going across our lower deck.

I'm working on converting our small front yard into a native plant bird friendly area, but I fear it will be several more years before that has an impact.  Kudos to those of you who have spent years successfully converting your former lawn into a bird oasis, with several times as many species as I've seen!

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