Yard (33)

My yard goes from a street to a creek.  It encompasses 21 redwood trees, 3 birch trees, an oak tree, a spectacular Japanese Maple, two ornamental cherry trees, and a few native huckleberry bushes.  I have tons of rosemary and lavender in the front yard — soaked in sun.  In the back, I have much more shade in the back — lots of groundcover and a lovely rose garden.  We are still working on the garden — it just keeps getting better.  My feeder station is at my kitchen window although I don’t think it will stay there.  I feed hummingbird juice, sunflower seeds, thistle seeds, and in the winter, I add Zick Dough to the mix.  I feed the hummingbirds year round — we have Anna’s Hummingbirds all year and Allen’s/Rofous Hummingbirds in the winter through early summer.  On 30F mornings, those hummers really appreciate that I have the hummingbird juice out there.  To be counted as a yard bird, a bird has to be seen in my yard or in the air space above my yard.  My daily visitors are marked with an astrick *.  I count any birds I have seen or heard from within my yard . . . even if they were across the street! Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) Wild Turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) Mountain Quail (Oreortyx pictus) Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) Turkey Vulture (Cathartes aura) Red-shouldered Hawk (Buteo lineatus) Band-tailed Pigeon (Patagioenas fasciata) Anna’s Hummingbird (Calypte anna) * Rufous Hummingbird (Selasphorus rufus) (Life) Allen’s Hummingbird (Selasphorus sasin) (Life) Hutton’s Vireo (Vireo huttoni) (Life) Steller’s Jay (Cyanocitta stelleri) * Western Scrub-Jay (Aphelocoma californica) Common Raven (Corvus corax) * Chestnut-backed Chickadee (Poecile rufescens) * Bushtit (Psaltriparus minimus) Pygmy Nuthatch (Sitta pygmaea) *(Life) Brown Creeper (Certhia americana) Hermit Thrush (Catharus guttatus) (Life) American Robin (Turdus migratorius) * Varied Thrush (Ixoreus naevius) (Life) Townsend’s Warbler (Dendroica townsendi) Spotted Towhee (Pipilo maculatus) (Life) California Towhee (Pipilo crissalis) * Fox Sparrow (Passerella iliaca) (Life) Dark-eyed Junco (Junco hyemalis) * Black-headed Grosbeak (Pheucticus melanocephalus) (Life) Purple Finch (Carpodacus purpureus) (Life) House Finch (Carpodacus mexicanus) Lesser Goldfinch (Carduelis psaltria) (Life) American Goldfinch (Carduelis tristis) (Life) Mourning Dove (Zenaida macroura) Western Screech-Owl (Megascops kennicottii) (Life)