My one-third acre of paradise in Southgate has been sold. In my ten years at that suburban Detroit location I observed 140 species of birds. The best was the first and so far only Wayne County record Rufous Hummingbird that arrived November 7, 2011 and stayed until the 14th. All photos in this post were taken from the yard.
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| The Rufous on fire |
Another bird that created a lot of buzz was a Yellow-throated Warbler that made a two minute cameo appearance on April 19, 2012. I had been given a heads up to look out for this species, in my Sycamore trees, by Tex Wells when he stopped by to see the Rufous Hummingbird. The Yellow-throated is one of 21 warbler species that I've seen in the yard.
The house's location appears to be at the convergence of a couple of flyways. Every April Common Loons flyover following three distinct flight paths. Two originate from Lake Erie to the south and east, while the other, a southwest to northeast path, possibly stems from Lake Michigan according to Loon Migration Researcher Kevin Kenow.
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| Best Loon shot from my yard |
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| Cardinal photobombed by White-throated Sparrow |
The remaining photos are in the order that the birds were added to the yard list. It starts out pretty mundane with the everyday birds but it gets better as it goes on.
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| Mourning Dove |
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| Rock Pigeon |
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| Downy Woodpecker |
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| Blue Jay |
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| Black-capped Chickadee |
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| Red-Breasted Nuthatch |
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| Northern Flicker and American Robin |
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| Red-headed Woodpecker |
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| Cooper's Hawk |
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| Sharp-shinned Hawk |
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| Dark-eyed Junco |
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| White-throated Sparrow |
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| White-crowned Sparrow |
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| Out of season Chipping Sparrow on February 3 2013 |
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| Hermit Thrush |
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| Female Rose-breasted Grosbeak |
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| Chimney Swift |
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| Carolina Wren |
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| Ruby-throated Hummingbird |
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| American Redstart |
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| Baltimore Oriole |
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| Female Black-throated Blue Warbler |
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| Eastern Wood Pewee |
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| Mallard |
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| Common Nighthawk |
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| Great Egrets |
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| Magnolia Warbler |
Every September during the Broad-winged Hawk migration I would see a few small kettles. Once had a group of 500 fly over.
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| Nashville Warbler |
On September 23, 2007 I added species #53,Scarlet Tanager, to the yardlist. I only saw them two other times the last sighting September 23, 2014, seven years to the day of the first sighting.
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| Scarlet Tanager |
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| Yellow-Bellied Sapsucker |
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| Red-winged Blackbird |
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| Purple Finch |
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| White-Breasted Nuthatch |
I would see Pine Siskins yearly. In 2008 and '09, I had them return around the 20th of June after vacating the area in mid- May.
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| Pine Siskin protecting what's his. |
Besides being Loon Month, April is also sparrow month.
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| Song Sparrow |
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| Fox Sparrow |
All three local Falcon species were on the list.
Three years in a row I saw Merlins
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| 2012 |
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| 2013 |
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| 2014 |
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| Mute Swans |
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| Osprey |
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| Cape May Warbler |
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| Red-eyed Vireo with a Katydid |
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| Ruby-crowned Kinglet |
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| Common Redpoll |
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| Composite of a flock of White-winged Crossbills |
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| Migrating Bald Eagle |
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| Brown Thrasher |
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| Chestnut-sided Warbler |
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| Yearly Wilson's Warbler |
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| Blackpoll Warbler |
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| Swainson's Thrush |
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| Lincoln's Sparrow |
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| Rough-legged Hawk |
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| Tundra Swans |
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| Eastern Towhee |
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| Blackburnian Warbler |
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| Bay-breasted Warbler |
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| Caspian Tern |
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| Tennessee Warbler |
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| Eastern Bluebird |
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| Red-Shouldered Hawk |
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| Rusty Blackbird |
The following photo was taken Oct. 28, 2012, the morning that Hurricane Sandy hit the east coast. That morning I sat out in the yard with my camera after work to see if the Atlantic storm would push any birds toward the Great Lakes. A few minutes into my observing session I spotted a strange bird flying toward the northwest over the yard. I couldn't ID it through binoculars but I took a series of shots through my 500mm lens after it flew past. I couldn't ID it with my photos either. The day before a report of an Evening Grosbeak sighting at Pt. Pelee was posted on Ontbirds. It was the first in a series of sightings of that species in the region that week. Late that week Darren O'Brien reported some in his Washtenaw County yard. I fired off a congratulatory email to him. Suddenly I remembered the unknown bird that I had photographed earlier that week. I sent the composite photo below to Allen Chartier and he confirmed it was a female Evening Grosbeak.
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| Evening Grosbeak |
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| Northern Pintail |
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| Blue-headed Vireo |
The Olive-sided Flycatcher was about the easiest addition to the list, as I spotted it from the dining room window as I was passing through on my way to the kitchen.
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| Olive-sided Flycatcher |
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| Yellow-Bellied Flycatcher |
Palm Warbler was a bird that had been on my yard nemesis-list for a while. During spring and fall migration these birds are everywhere but my yard. It wasn't until Sept. 30, 2013 that I added it to the yardlist and it returned the next day so it became part of the October list also.
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| Palm Warbler |
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| Horned Lark |
Sandhill Crane was the last remaining bird that was on the nemesis list and I finally tallied them on 3/31/14 and like the Palm Warbler I saw some them two days in a row and they also made it on to two monthly checklists.
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| Sandhill Cranes |
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| #140 Yellow-throated Vireo |
I hope that the new owner appreciates the birds that are drawn to it.
What was I doing when I spotted it from my deck? um.....grilling turkey. Bet not too many birders add a species to their yardlist while cooking the same species.
