I admit the title “Birder” sounds a little strange to me, as it suggests something more participatory than watching birds. And although I may be a birder, I’m certainly not a twitcher (someone who travels long distances to see birds). I prefer to let them come to me. I am a list maker however, and keeping a list of birds in my special list book is something I enjoy. My bird list contains few rarities–these are just the birds that inhabit the same environs I do. I’ve been keeping a life list for several years now, but throughout 2019 I kept a list of all the birds I saw. Today I sat down and took a final count–there were 75. A few birds that I didn’t quite identify didn’t make it on my list–like the black duck I thought I saw just before Christmas. I figure confirming it over the next few days will give me a jump on the 2020 list.
| January 1 | Black Capped Chickadees |
| January 1 | Northern Cardinal |
| January 1 | Wild Turkey |
| January 1 | Dark Eyed Junco |
| January 1 | American Gold Finch |
| January 2 | Red Breasted Nuthatch |
| January 2 | White Breasted Nuthatch |
| January 2 | Mourning Dove |
| January 3 | Ringbill Gulls |
| January 11 | Raven |
| January 14 | American Crow |
| January 14 | Red Tail Hawk |
| January 17 | Purple Finch |
| January 19 | Hairy Woodpecker |
| January 20 | Redpoll |
| January 20 | Sharp Shinned Hawk |
| January 28 | Rock Doves |
| January 29 | Pileated Woodpecker |
| February 7 | Blue Jay |
| February 6 | Snowbirds |
| February 24 | European Starlings |
| February 6 | Snowy Owl |
| March 4 | Canada Goose |
| March 12 | Brown Creeper |
| March 14 | Common Grackle |
| March 17 | American Robin |
| March 17 | Red Wind Blackbird |
| March 18 | Turkey Vulture |
| March 20 | Blue Heron |
| March 20 | American Kestrel |
| March 20 | Common Merganzer |
| March 21 | Killdeer |
| March 23 | Mute Swan |
| May 5 | Bald Eagle |
| May 6 | Eastern Bluebird |
| April 17 | Red Headed Woodpecker |
| April 17 | Double Crested Cormorant |
| April 21 | Common Loon |
| April 21 | Osprey |
| April 21 | Yellow Shafted Flicker |
| April 21 | Eastern Phoebe |
| April 21 | Northern Meganzer |
| April 29 | Belted King Fisher |
| May 6 | House Finch |
| May 11 | Tree Swallow |
| May 14 | Cowbird |
| May 17 | Catbird |
| May 17 | Field Sparrow |
| May 20 | Baltimore Oriel |
| May 19 | House Sparrow |
| May 24 | Brown Thrasher |
| May 26 | Bobolink |
| May 27 | Barn Swallow |
| May 24 | Mallard Duck |
| July 26 | Green Heron |
| June 27 | House Wren |
| June 27 | Ruby Throated Hummingbird |
| July 5 | Cedar Waxwings |
| August 18 | Herring Gull |
| August 18 | Yellow Warbler |
| August 18 | Lesser Yellowlegs |
| August 18 | Caspian Tern |
| August 18 | Common Tern |
| August 18 | Dowitcher |
| August 18 | Least Sandpiper |
| August 18 | Semipalmated Sandpiper |
| August 18 | Egret |
| August 18 | Downey Woodpecker |
| August 19 | Gallinula |
| August 19 | Willet |
| August 19 | Bairds Sandpiper |
| August 19 | Black Bellied Sandpiper |
| August 27 | Phoebe |
| October 10 | Song Sparrow |
| October 12 | Red Bellied Woodpecker |
Every Day a Little Better 