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
Allegheny Blackberry, American Beech, American Hornbeam, American Larch, Atlantic White Cedar, Black Cherry, Black Locust, Black Spruce, Black Tupelo, Bur Oak, Canaan Balsam Fir, Chinese Arborvite, Chokeberry, Clethra, Common Spicebush,, Eastern Hemlock, Eastern Hophornbeam, Fire Cherry, High Bush Blueberry, Horsechestnut, Lowbush Blueberry, Multiflora Rose, Nannyberry Viburnum, Norway Spruce, Pussy Willow, Red Spruce, Red-twig Dogwood, River Birch, Serviceberry, Shagbark Hickory, Sheep Laurel, Striped Maple, Sulphur Cinquefoil, Red Maple, Red Raspberry, 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, Brown-eyed Susan, Butterfly Weed, Canada Hawkweed, Canada Toadflax, Canadian Anemone, Chicory, Common Bracken, Common Mugwort, Common St. John’s Wort, Common Yarrow, Creeping Juniper, Daisy Fleabane, Downy Yellow Violet, Eastern Columbine, Evening Primrose, False Indigo, Flowering Spruge, Foxglove Beardstongue, Grass-leaved Goldenrod, Goldenrod sp., Great Mullain, Hairy Beardstongue, Jacob’s Ladder, Lady Fern, Little Bluestem, Lupine, Macoun’s Everlasting, Monkey Flower, New England Aster, New York Aster, Ohio Spiderwort, Oxeye Daisy, Partridge Pea, Pearly Everlasting, Prairie Dropseed, Purple Coneflower, Rabbit’s Foot Clover, Red Clover, Silverrod, Smooth Blue Aster, Sweet Fern, Sweet Woodruff, Tall Bellflower, Thin-leaf Sunflower, Tickseed, Trumpet Honeysuckle, Sensitive Fern, Steeplebush, Tufted Vetch, Veronica, Virginia Creeper, Wild Geranium, White Campion, Woodland Aster, Woodland Sedge, Yellow Foxglove
Mosses
Common Haircap Moss, Pincushion Moss, Reindeer Lichen
Fungi
Ravenel’s Stinkhorn, Upright Coral Fungus
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
Black Swallowtail, Eastern Tiger Swallowtail, Eastern White Blotched Prominent, False Hemlock Looper, Great Spangled Fritillary, Green Comma, Horace’s Duskywing, Juvenal’s Duskywing, Little Emerald, Monarch, Northern Broken-Dash, Spicebush Swallowtail, Spotted Cutworm, Wild Indigo Duskywing
Moths
American Dagger, Common Spring Moth, Copper Underwing, Eastern White Blotched Prominent, Elm Spanworm Moth, False Hemlock Looper, Geometer Moth, Giant Leopard Moth, Gray Spruce Looper Moth, Green Cloverworm Moth, Hickory Tussock Moth, Large Yellow Underwing, Larch Toltype Moth, Large Yellow Underwing, Luna Moth, Milkweed Tussock Moth, 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, Spongy Moth, Spotted Cutworm, Ugly-nest Caterpillar Moth, White-lined Sphinx, Yellow Wooly Bear Moth
Bees and Wasps
Andrena sp., 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 Mining Bee, Northeastern Sweat 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, Bobcat, Eastern Gray Squirrel, Eastern Chipmunk, Red Fox, Racoon, White-tailed Deer, mole sp., vole sp.