Here is my response to the yard list questions:
How long have you been keeping your list? Started in May 2018 while working on our new house, but kicked into higher gear in 2019 when we moved to Colorado
What's your style of yard listing: casual, mainly feeder watching, moderate, dedicated, obsessed? Moderate
How many species? 99
Rarest, or favorite species? My rarest bird and most memorable experience was seeing a Varied Bunting out my back window on a stormy June evening in 2020. Due to the poor lighting, I could barely make out any color on the small bird that flew into the willows behind my house. Based on a quick look through binoculars and seeing a large reddish spot on its head, I knew I had an unusual bird so I grabbed my camera and started shooting while pushing up the ISO setting on the camera. Only after increasing the exposure on my photos in post-production would I see all the blue, purple and red colors on the male Varied Bunting. I observed it for about one minute and could hear it chipping for another minute in the neighbor’s yard.
Location/habitat: urban, suburban, rural, etc? Suburban/Rural -- Ridgway in Ouray County, I live in a residential area with cottonwood-lined gravel streets surrounded by ranchlands. My lot was initially all grass, but we have now planted native trees, shrubs and grasses so hopefully it will become better habitat for more bird species in a decade or two.
Don Marsh
Ridgway, CO
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