Spring arrivals - COGR #31

Since I created this blog for these reprobates, I get the first post. This blog is basically a place where all three of us can post their latest birds and or photos from their yards in one place that we can look back on at the end of the year. Two of the contestants live in or around the suburbs of Grand Rapids, MI. I live out in the country in SE Wisconsin. As a result the other two yards have the advantage of quite possibly picking up a migrant Kirtland's Warbler while my chances of that are minuscule. So basically they have an advantage right out of the chocks... My yard consists of 14 acres of mixed brom field, secondary growth boxelder and sugar maple, and a hay field (rough outline below). There are a wealth of good wooded ridges along with ponds and wetlands all within a mile of my house so a good number of decent flyover birds can be expected. Up to this point I've recorded 212 species in my yard with the most recent addition being White-winged Crossbill (this winter quite the no-brainer...what a treat).
Well the first month and a half of the year have been relatively uneventful in my yard. Best birds are probably White-winged Crossbill, Common Redpoll, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (right), Golden-crowned Kinglet, and 4 Eastern Bluebirds. The grand total for the year with today's newest addition a single Common Grackle chucking from the top of our Cottonwood clump, brings my yard to 31 species for the year. Biggest miss thus far is probably pigeon...