I'll throw in my two bits... *How long have you been keeping your list? *Since May of 1992 (tho our house & most of the vegetation --excepting what thereafter became our feeder trees, a large Ponderosa Pine and a Blue Spruce-- burned down in the Waldo Canyon Fire in June of 2012, so it sort of became a different yard in the same location, recreated with the new house after a 14-month gap. Do I take liberties in counting it as the same yard and continuing with my same yard-list?? Whatever... I do so.) So going on 32 years.
*What's your style of yard listing: casual, mainly feeder watching, moderate, dedicated, obsessed? *Obsessed to my wife, family & most friends (and yes, I dedicatedly report to Project FeederWatch every weekend in the winters, and to eBird pretty much on a daily basis except when things slow down during the breeding season--and the feeders are stored away), but I'm retired and just love sitting by the window with my cup of coffee, binoculars handy (& going on window-to-window field-trips as called for), and as I move about the house (or yard) I've always got one eye on the lookout... *How many species? *131 now (5 new additions in 2023). *Rarest, or favorite species? *I love 'em all, but especially every new yardbird, of course. 2023 brought a Bald Eagle soaring high overhead, a Loggerhead Shrike, a Common Yellowthroat, a Brewer Sparrow, a Rose-breasted Grosbeak, as well as rare repeat yard sightings of both waxwing species, Northern Parula, Canyon Towhee, Mountain Bluebird, White-winged Dove, Swainson Thrush, & Orange-crowned Warbler. I loved having a Yellow-shafted Flicker in Oct. 2020, a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker in Mar. 2016, and a Golden-crowned Sparrow in Feb.-Mar. of 2008... *Most memorable experience? *Probably the immature Golden-crowned Sparrow, which hung around and got me connected with CFO & Cobirds (--my first posting *and* Rare Bird submission), & bringing us a number of human visitors. I think it may have been the first El Paso County record? or at least was a rare target for County listers... *Location/habitat: urban, suburban, rural, etc? *0.4 acre, suburban but lots of adjacent & nearby open space, w. Flying W Ranch, Rampart Range & Natl Forest just west; 6633' eleva. with diverse native & non-native plants. I keep a heated birdbath thru the winter, and the rest of the year have the birdbath and a "bubbling boulder" which is *very* popular with both migrants and resident species (including bobcats & raccoons). Here's to the home patch, wherever it may be! Marty Wolf, NW Colo. Spgs. On Mon, Mar 11, 2024 at 4:40 PM Thomas Heinrich <[email protected]> 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 > [email protected] > www.pbase.com/birdercellist > > -- > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "Colorado Birds" group. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected] > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/cobirds > * All posts should be signed with the poster's full name and city. Include > bird species and location in the subject line when appropriate. > * Join Colorado Field Ornithologists https://cobirds.org/membership/ > --- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "Colorado Birds" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > To view this discussion on the web visit > https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cobirds/CADXhbwF%2B99O3KouyaZ1vSvAFq-FERryJitT%3DO5GVQ1QqZXvb0w%40mail.gmail.com > <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cobirds/CADXhbwF%2B99O3KouyaZ1vSvAFq-FERryJitT%3DO5GVQ1QqZXvb0w%40mail.gmail.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> > . > -- -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/cobirds * All posts should be signed with the poster's full name and city. Include bird species and location in the subject line when appropriate. * Join Colorado Field Ornithologists https://cobirds.org/membership/ --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cobirds/CADoSYTNqq2y5Hrkm_vGek8GWc_eeqr%2B%2BestyKSMvuEmiBDznVA%40mail.gmail.com.
