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