Eastern bluebird (and its lunch, a camel cricket)

Purple finch (male)

At New Year’s, I post my “yard list” here. It’s a list of all the bird species observed in my yard in Fort Valley, Virginia, over the course of the previous calendar year. I have been posting this list every year since I moved here:

• 2012 (39 species)
• 2013 (51 species)
• 2014 (58 species)
• 2015 (65 species)

Yellow-billed cuckoo (window-killed, unfortunately)

Ruby-throated hummingbird (female)

Tufted titmouse

Goldfinch (male, summer plumage)

Goldfinch (male, winter plumage)

Downy woodpecker (male)

This year, I regret to report that my numbers have fallen off this increasing trend of the first four years, with only 59 total species observed.

Here’s the list, presented in chronological order of first appearance in the year:

1. White-breasted nuthatch
2. Red-bellied woodpecker
3. Goldfinch
4. Carolina chickadee
5. Downy woodpecker
6. Tufted titmouse
7. Mourning dove
8. Dark-eyed junco
9. Ruby-crowned kinglet
10. American robin
11. Brown creeper
12. Carolina wren
13. Hairy woodpecker
14. Pine siskin
15. Northern cardinal
16. American crow
17. Pileated woodpecker
18. Turkey vulture
19. Barred owl
20. Purple finch
21. Red-shouldered hawk
22. Northern flicker
23. Blue jay
24. Red-tailed hawk
25. Eastern phoebe
26. Brown-headed cowbird
27. Eastern bluebird
28. Turkey
29. Pine warbler
30. Whippoorwill
31. Canada goose
32. Chipping sparrow
33. Black vulture
34. Eastern towhee
35. Blue-gray gnatcatcher
36. Broad-winged hawk
37. Raven
38. Ruby-throated hummingbird
39. Blue-headed vireo
40. Rose-breasted grosbeak
41. Hermit thrush
42. Indigo bunting
43. Ovenbird
44. Scarlet tanager
45. Red-eyed vireo
46. Yellow-rumped warbler
47. Eastern wood-peewee
48. House finch
49. Yellow-billed cuckoo
50. Cedar waxwing
51. Bald eagle
52. Great crested flycatcher
53. Great blue heron
54. Chimney swift
55. Orchard oriole
56. Black-throated green warbler
57. Yellow-bellied sapsucker
58. Golden-crowned kinglet
59. Sharp-shinned hawk

All told, it’s not too shabby. But: better luck next year!

Carolina chickadee

Rose-breasted grosbeak (male)

Brown creeper

Swainson’s hawk (this one’s from Idaho, not Virginia)