Greetings!
Just found this thread and am glad of the opportunity to "share the joy"!
I can't really boast a very long list, mostly the usual. I suppose the most exotic bird I've identified locally is a plover, if I got it right.
I visited Alaska this summer and saw a single bald eagle, which was almost the highlight of the trip for my husband, despite meeting a granddaughter for the first time.
We see Canada Geese here year round, they don't seem to migrate north in the spring anymore, they just hang out all summer.
My husband maintains several hummingbird feeders, while I keep a couple of seedcake cages filled in the front yard.
But the big news here is the return of the yellow-billed magpie. There, now you know where I live, sort of. It's the only place on the planet they're found. When we first moved into this house the neighborhood was filled with them. They are noisy, and first thing in the morning they can be annoying as anything. But then, for some reason, I never heard why, there was a die-off. We went several years without spotting a single one. Then, last year we saw one or two. This morning there were about a dozen hanging out in the front yard. I am just so glad to see them again. So far they haven't been a nuisance. Maybe I will have a better attitude about them now. As long as they don't start in too early!
"And it is said by the Eldar that in water there lives yet the echo of the Music of the Ainur more than in any substance else that is in this Earth; and many of the Children of Ilúvatar hearken still unsated to the voices of the Sea, and yet know not for what they listen."
There is something profound about standing AT sea level.
