Birds of the Neighborhood (April 1-10, 2002)

The “neighborhood” consists of a 9-block rectangular area (my block plus the surrounding 8 city blocks) in a downtown neighborhood in the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia. But most of my observations are of birds seen in, or viewed from, my yard, an area just shy of 0.25-acres. Species are listed in alphabetical order (numbers in parentheses indicate the order in which each species was detected, # symbols indicate species new this period, and * symbols indicate species not native to the area):

American Crow (18) - flying over on 4/6
American Robin (1) - daily; territorial singing
Blue Jay (13) - seen sporadically
Carolina Chickadee (20) - 1 on 4/7
Carolina Wren (11) - 1 hanging around, singing periodically
Common Grackle (8) - a few (up to a dozen) hanging around
Downy Woodpecker (15) - 1 heard on 4/3, 4/6, & 4/7
Eastern Towhee# (19) - 1 singing on 4/7 & 4/10; unusual
European Starling* (4) - moderate numbers daily
Fish Crow (7) - almost daily
House Finch* (2) - moderate numbers daily; nest found 4/7
House Sparrow* (3) - large numbers daily
Mourning Dove (5) - daily; nesting
Northern Cardinal (6) - daily; territorial singing
Red-bellied Woodpecker (16) - 2 birds on 4/3
Rock Dove* (9) - daily, but much reduced from a month ago
Song Sparrow# (10) - 1 singing on 4/3
Tufted Titmouse# (12) - 1 on 4/3
Turkey Vulture (14) - 1 flying over on 4/3
White-throated Sparrow# (17) - 1 or 2 singing on 4/6

Total Species This Period - 20
New Species This Period - 4
Cumulative Species Since 3/11/2002 - 22