I try to identify everything I find in the garden. I like to observe what plants insects, spiders and birds are feeding on, or building a nest or web in, or otherwise making use of. It’s a fun thing to do. Every year the native plants attract more species of wildlife. Here are my up-to date lists as of the end of 2024.
Trees and Shrubs
American Beech, American Hornbeam, American Larch, Black Cherry, Black Spruce, Black Tupelo, Bur Oak, Canaan Balsam Fir, Chokeberry, Clethra, Common Spicebush,, Eastern Hemlock, Eastern Hophornbeam, High Bush Blueberry, Horsechestnut, Lowbush Blueberry, Nannyberry Viburnum, Red Spruce, Red-twig Dogwood, River Birch, Serviceberry, Shagbark Hickory, Sheep Laurel, Red Maple, Sugar, Maple, White Oak, White Pine, White Spruce, Winterberry, Witherod Viburnum
Annuals, Perennials, Grasses, Ferns, Vines
Allium, Skullcap, Bearberry, Big Bluestem, Black-eyed Susan, Black Cohosh, Butterfly Weed, Canadian Anemone, Creeping Juniper, Downy Yellow Violet, Eastern Columbine, False Indigo, Flowering Spruge, Foxglove Beardstongue, Jacob’s Ladder, Lady Fern, Little Bluestem, Lupine, Monkey Flower, New England Aster, New York Aster, Partridge Pea, Pearly Everlasting, Prairie Dropseed, Purple Coneflower, Smooth Blue Aster, Sweet Fern, Thin-leaf Sunflower, Trumpet Honeysuckle, Woodland Aster, Woodland Sedge
Fungi
Ravenel’s Stinkhorn
Lichen
Pink Earth Lichen
Birds
American Crow, American Goldfinch, American Kestrel, American Goshawk, American Redstart, American Robin, American Tree Swallow, American Woodcock, Baltimore Oriole, Barred Owl, Bay-breasted Warbler, Black-and-white Warbler, Black-billed Cuckoo, Black-capped Chickadee, Black-throated Blue Warbler, Black-throated Green Warbler, Blackpoll Warbler, Blackburnian Warbler, Blue Jay, Blue-headed Vireo, Bohemian Waxwing, Broad-winged Hawk, Brown Creeper, Cape May Warbler, Cedar Waxwing, Chestnut-sided Warbler, Chipping Sparrow, Common Nighthawk, Common Raven, Common Yellowthroat, Dark-eyed Junco, Downy Woodpecker, Eastern Bluebird, Eastern Phoebe, Eastern Wood-Peewee, Evening Grosbeak, Fox Sparrow, Golden-crowned Kinglet, Gray Catbird, Great Blue Heron, Great Crested Flycatcher, Hairy Woodpecker, Hermit Thrush, Indigo Bunting, Least Flycatcher, Lincoln’s Sparrow, Magnolia Warbler, Mourning Dove, Northern Cardinal, Northern Flicker, Northern House Wren, Northern Parula, Northern Saw-whet Owl, Ovenbird, Palm Warbler, Pileated Woodpecker, Pine Siskin, Pine Warbler, Purple Finch, Red Crossbill, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Red-breasted Nuthatch, Red-eyed Vireo, Red-tailed Hawk, Red-winged Blackbird, Redpoll, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Ruffed Grouse, Scarlet Tanager, Sharp-shinned Hawk, Song Sparrow, Tennessee Warbler, Tree Swallow, Tufted Titmouse, Turkey Vulture, Veery, White-breasted Nuthatch, White-crowned Sparrow, White-throated Sparrow, Wild Turkey, Winter Wren, Wood Thrush, Yellow Warbler, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Yellow-rumped Warbler
Butterflies and Moths
American Copper Underwing, American Dagger, Black Swallowtail, Common Spring Moth, Eastern Tiger Swallowtail, Eastern White Blotched Prominent, Elm Spanworm Moth, False Hemlock Looper, Geometer Moth, Giant Leopard Moth, Gray Spruce Looper Moth, Great Spangled Fritillary, Green Cloverworm Moth, Green Comma, Hickory Tussock Moth, Horace’s Duskywing, Junenal’s Duskywing, Larch Toltype Moth, Large Yellow Underwing, Little Emerald, Luna Moth, Milkweed Tussock Moth, Monarch, Northern Broken-Dash, Ornate Tiger Moth, Painted Lichen Moth, Pale Beauty, Pink-striped Oakworm, Polyphemus Moth, Rosy Maple Moth, Ruby Tiger Moth, Salt Marsh Moth, Spicebush Swallowtail, Spongy Moth, Spotted Cutworm, Ugly-nest Caterpillar Moth, White-lined Sphinx, Yellow Wooly Bear Moth
Bees and Wasps
Blackjacket, Carpenter Ant, Catskill Potter Wasp, Common Eastern Bumble Bee, Common Thread-waisted Wasp, Eastern Yellowjacket, Gold-marked Thread-waisted Wasp, Golden Sweat Bee, Great Black Digger Wasp, Hawthorne Miner Bee, Pure Green Sweat Bee, Solitary Sweat Bee, Tawny Mining Bee, Tri-colored Bumble Bee, Two-spotted Bumble Bee, Common Sawfly, Western Honey Bee
Flies
Bald-faced Hornet Fly, Black-shouldered Drone Fly, Commonb Flesh Flies, Common Flower Flies, Eastern Hornet Fly,Hornet Flies, Pond Flies, Tiger Crane Flies
Beetles
Goldenrod Soldier Beetle, Lady Beetle, Longhorn Beetle, Red Milkweed Beetle, Saint John’s Wort Beetle, Potato Beetle, Small Milkweed Bug, Swamp Milkweed Leaf Beetle
Spiders
American Nursery Web Spider, Grass Spiders, Eastern Harvestman, Nordmann’s Orbweaver
Grasshoppers, Katydids
North American Spur-throated Grasshoppers, Red-legged Grasshopper, Scudder’s Bush Katydids, Two-striped Grasshopper
True Bugs
Green Stink Bug, Small Milkweed Bug, Western Conifer Seed Bug
Dragonflies and Damselflies
Common Whitetail, Chalk-fronted Corporal
Reptiles and Amphibeans
American Toad, Common Garter Snake, Eastern Newt (Red Eft), Pickeral Frog, Spring Peeper, Yellow-spotted Salamander, salamander sp.
Mammals
American Black Bear, American Red Squirrel, Eastern Gray Squirrel, Eastern Chipmunk, Red Fox, Racoon, White-tailed Deer, mole sp., vole sp.