Around Home

My mom asked me what our yard list was. We didn't have one, and I was ashamed.

This was really my first visit home in which I noticed we had things in our yard other than Mourning Doves and Brewer's Blackbirds. We don't have any feeders (in my upstart insolence, I can't shake the thought that though it is sanctioned by the highest classes of birders, feeding is "cheating"), so we just take what comes.

I'll start a list here. The only ones I'm including are the ones I have seen on our own humble half-acre in the suburbs. This counts branches hanging over the fence into our yard and does not count branches overhanging into the neighbor's yard (not that it makes much of a difference yet). I'll have to pay attention quite a bit longer to get a list that is anywhere near complete, and that could take a while.

American Crow
Anna's Hummingbird
Brewer's Blackbird
House Finch
Mourning Dove
Northern Mockingbird
"Oregon" Junco
Western Scrub-jay
White-crowned Sparrow
Yellow-rumped Warbler

Some of the things I've gotten used to including in "around home" lists--cardinals, chickadees, Blue Jays--are of course absent, not being found in this part of the country. I'm sure they would be replaced with things even more fascinating if I were more attentive.

One species I did catch was the White-crowned Sparrow several days ago. I saw three things hopping under the orange trees and ran to get the binoculars. They had unmistakable white stripes down their heads, yellowish bills and legs, plain gray fronts, and brownish sides. Now that was a sparrow worth identifying.

Next time: finally, a Puritan Birder review of Pete Dunne's The Feather Quest. The PB has taken some time with the book, but she still may not have anything to say. Stay tuned to see!