THE YARDLIST

There was a time when I tried to keep this list up to date with all the new species found in the garden. It has completely overwhelmed me. There is just too much there! Particularly moths. I am a bit obsessed with moths. I am one of like three people in Chatham County who uploads moth data to BAMONA, where they ID it for you, and the number of moths that have shown up that are the only recording in the state are astonishing (and once, the only record in North America, and I kinda had to hide under the bed after that.)

So a few totals:

Birds

85 species

36 known fledglings hatched since 2012

Coolest Bird: Yellow Billed Cuckoo
Most Hatched: Carolina Wren

Reptiles & Amphibians

23 species

Most Impressive Snake: Copperhead
Coolest Amphibian: Spotted Salamander

Moths

240 species

Most Impressive Moth: Royal Walnut
Most Impressive Caterpillar: Stinging Rose
Best Name: Intractable Quaker

Dragonflies & Damselflies

7 species (probably more, but they’re hard to ID!)

Most Beautiful: Ebony Jewelwing

Mammals

7 species

Most Nifty: Red Fox
Most Hated: White-tailed Deer

Crayfish

1 species

His name is Bob.

Other Insects & Arachnids

67 species (probably a lot more!)

Most Impressive: Reddish Brown Stag Beetle
Most Elegant: Writing Spider
Most Unusual: Yellow-morphs of the Oblong Winged Katydid
Most Punctual: 13 Year Cicadas of the Great Southern Brood

Plants That I Didn’t Plant

27 native species

5 invasive weeds (probably a lot more, but grasses are hard)

includes 2 native orchids!

Fungus

7 species (undoubtedly more, but fungus are REALLY hard!)

Don’t Let The Neighbors Find Out: Big Laughing Gym
Most Creepy: Wood Blewit