Yard count

This week, I added a species to my list of "yard birds," which includes any bird seen from our property. A great blue heron flew over, heading northwest from the direction of the lake. The list since we moved here in 2006 has reached 23 species (our previous list was in the upper 30s). We don't get quite as many passerine migrants here. My theories are that we have a much smaller front yard with less cover and that perhaps our east-west orientation doesn't attract as many north-south migrants along the lakefront (no science to this, just a theory). The list is funny: I have peregrine falcon and american woodcock but no common grackle or red-winged blackbird.