Re: [cobirds] Yard list questions: How many of CO's 520 species have been seen (or heard) from a yard?

We have a small yard in an urban setting, but we have had some terrific birds over the past 21 years.

 

Style: dedicated

 

Number of species: 121

 

We have had two particularly memorable experiences. On Jeanne's birthday in December of 2003 we were new birders. We knew nothing about reportable species, checklist committees, rare bird alerts, etc. All we knew was that we really enjoyed seeing the Snow Bunting in our yard! On another occasion, we saw a big shadow cross our kitchen window and looked out to see a Great Blue Heron sitting next to one of our bird baths. What!?!

 

Also, our yard is probably the most reliable place in El Paso county to record White-winged Dove. Many of you have notched your EPC dove at our place.

 

Good birding, all.

 

Mel Goff

On 03/11/2024 9:40 AM MST Thomas Heinrich <teheinrich@gmail.com> wrote:

 

 

Hi all,

 

Every now and then one of us will share the excitement of adding a rarity or new species to a yard list, report yard list totals, or comment on local trends. And some of the lists, and variety of species, are really impressive (e.g. David Suddjian's, Gary Lefko's). 

 

Yellow Grosbeak, Pyrrhuloxia, Streak-backed Oriole, Long-billed Thrasher, Costa's Hummingbird, Laurence's Goldfinch, and even Anhinga come to mind as rarities that have shown up in or been observed from yards. (Perhaps the recent Brambling, too?)

 

As a pretty obsessive yard lister (i.e. binocs always on, camera ready when outdoors, much of the time indoors too), I often wonder about others' experience with yard-listing. 

 

How long have you been keeping your list?

What's your style of yard listing: casual, mainly feeder watching, moderate, dedicated, obsessed?

How many species?

Rarest, or favorite species?

Most memorable experience?

Location/habitat: urban, suburban, rural, etc?

 

And the big question: if we tallied up all our yard lists, how close to Colorado's 520 species could we get?

 

It seems likely that certain families would be less well-represented; shorebirds, waterfowl, and gulls, for example. But with neighborhoods lining bodies of water such as Boyd Lake, Lake Loveland, Marston Reservoir, Jackson Lake, and MacIntosh Lake (in Boulder), among many others, many of those species theoretically could have been counted on a yard list. Maybe some lucky person living on the shores of Boyd Lake has Long-tailed Jaeger, Slaty-backed Gull, and Garganey on their yard list!

 

Wishing all good health, good birding, and an exciting Spring migration!

 

--Thomas Heinrich

 

 

My answers to the questions above:

15 years

Dedicated to obsessive 

152 species

Wood Thrush, Yellow-throated Warbler, N Cardinal, Common Redpoll, Bohemian Waxwing

Watching spring raptor migration from the roof-top, 35 Broad-winged Hawks among 130 raptors of 10 species on one high-flow day (4/18/2020)

Interface between suburban and open space, base of foothills, el. 5600'

 

--

Thomas Heinrich
Boulder, CO
TEHeinrich@gmail.com
www.pbase.com/birdercellist

 

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