Hope is a Thing with Feathers...

Ed greeted me this morning with a cup of coffee and an invitation to go out with him for some early-morning birdwatching. Your blog post today is brought to you by Ed, along with our "Life List" for Farm Dover. 

It was the bird that got me interested in bird watching ten years or so ago.  We were on an overnight to Shakertown for Mary’s May birthday with some of her friends. We stayed in an old stone house in a field, a walk from the village. 

A stream ran through the yard and watered a small hedge. For some reason I had binoculars when I noticed a flash of neon orange in the hedge. It was a northern oriole – a most spectacular bird and a joy to watch. 

I’ve only seen one other – until Sunday when I was delighted to spot a pair of orchard orioles in one of our fields. I hope it’s a nesting pair.

That puts an exclamation point on the list of birds we’ve seen on Farm Dover so far. I’m not much of a hand at bird identifying, so I hope there are more to spot.

Female Orchard Oriole

Male Orchard Oriole

 

In 2012 we started this life list of birds we have seen at Farm Dover. With each new bird, I update it. As of May, 2026, we have spotted 103 species. 

Life List for Farm Dover

American Crow
American Goldfinch
American Goshawk
American Kestrel
American Redstart
American Robin
American Woodcock
Bald Eagle
Baltimore Oriole
Barn Swallow
Barred Owl
Belted Kingfisher
Black Burnian Warbler
Black Vulture
Black-and-white Warbler
Black-billed Cuckoo
Blue Grosbeak
Blue Jay
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
Blue-winged Warbler
Broad-winged Hawk
Brown Thrasher
Brown-headed Cowbird
Canada Goose
Canada Warbler
Cape May Warbler
Carolina Chickadee
Carolina Wren
Cedar Waxwing
Chipping Sparrow
Common Grackle
Common Nighthawk
Common Yellowthroat
Dickcissel
Downy Woodpecker
Eastern Bluebird
Eastern Kingbird
Eastern Meadowlark
Eastern Screech-Owl
Eastern Towhee
Eastern Wood-Pewee
European Starling
Field Sparrow
Golden-crowned Kinglet
Gray Catbird
Great Blue Heron
Great Crested Flycatcher
Great Egret
Great Horned Owl
Greater Yellowlegs
Green Heron
Hairy Woodpecker
House Finch
House Sparrow
House Wren
Indigo Bunting
Killdeer
Kirtland’s Warbler
Loggerhead Shrike
Louisiana Waterthrush
Mallard
Merlin
Mourning Dove
Nashville Warbler
Northern Bobwhite
Northern Cardinal
Northern Flicker
Northern Harrier
Northern Mockingbird
Orchard Oriole
Osprey
Palm Warbler
Pileated Woodpecker
Pine Siskin
Prairie Warbler
Prothonotary Warbler
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Red-headed Woodpecker
Red-shouldered Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
Red-winged Blackbird
Redhead
Rock Pigeon
Rose-breasted Grosbeak
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Sandhill Crane
Sharp-shinned Hawk
Song Sparrow
Summer Tanager
Tree Swallow
Tufted Titmouse
Turkey Vulture
Warbling Vireo
White-breasted Nuthatch
White-crowned Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
Wild Turkey
Willow Flycatcher
Wood Thrush
Yellow Warbler
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
Yellow-billed Cuckoo
Yellow-breasted Chat

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