Backyard Bioblitz for March and April

Our backyard bioblitz has come to an early end. We are headed north to Minnesota for my new job at Voyageurs National Park. We've known about the move for a while,

but now it's all too real.

The movers have come to pack up our stuff and tomorrow they load it into a van and move it north. We have not closed on our home yet, but I hope the next owner enjoys the backyard and all the organisms that call it home as much as we do. I know that I especially love our backyard this time of the year, when the dogwoods are in bloom.

Birds:

• Northern cardinal Cardinalis cardinalis
• American robin Turdus migratorious
• European Starling Sturnus vulgaris
• red bellied woodpecker Melanerpes carolinus
• blue jay Cyanocitta cristata
• mourning dove Zenaida macroura
• house finch Caprodacus mexicanus
• American goldfinch Carduelis tristis
• yellow-rumped warbler Setophaga coronata
• downy woodpecker Picoides pubescens
• Northern mockingbird Mimus polyglottos
• Carolina wren Thryothorus ludovicianus 
• song sparrow Melospiza melodia
• Carolina chickadee Parus carolinensis
• tufted titmouse Parus bicolor
• brown-headed cowbird Molothrus ater
• cedar waxwing Bombycilla cedrorum
• American crow Corvus brachyrhynchos
• Eastern towhee Pipilo erythrophthalmus
• Northern flicker Colaptes auratus
• red-tailed hawk Buteo jamaicensis
• brown thrasher Toxostoma rufum
• white throated sparrow Zonotrichia albicollis
• Canada goose Branta canadensis
• turkey vulture Cathartes aura
• great horned owl Bubo virginianus
• chipping sparrow Spizella passerina

Mammals: 

• Eastern cottontail Sylvilagus floridanus 
  
• gray squirrel Sciurus carolinensis

 Plants: 

• dandelion Taraxacum officinale
  
• common blue violet Viola sororia
  
• moss phlox Phlox subulata
  
• flowering dogwood Cornus florida
  
• spotted wintergreen Chimaphila maculata
  
• azalea Ericaceae sp.
  
• Chinese holly Ilex cornuta
  
• yellow wood sorrel Oxalis stricta
  
• jonquil Narcissus jonquilla
  
• barren strawberry Waldsteinia fragarioides
  
• lilac Syringa vulgaris 
  
• fleabane  Erigeron sp.