Phenology · the turning year

How the seasons change the yard

Birdramon's own detections, sorted by the turn of the year: who is arriving, who is slipping away, how loud the dawn chorus runs in each season, and which species belong to which part of the calendar. Everything here is built from the station's history with false positives already removed.

Now: Fall · Sep 1 – Nov 30

Data coverage

135 days of history since Jun 17, 2026 · 36,007 detections · 70 species

0 Winter days logged

0 Spring days logged

76 Summer days logged

59 Fall days logged

Rates below are per logged day, so gaps in coverage don't read as quiet spells. A season needs at least 7 logged days to be compared against the others, and anything labeled "seasonal" is provisional until the station has a full year behind it.

What's changing right now

last 14 days vs. the 46 days before

New arrivals

Detected now, absent in the earlier stretch.

White-throated Sparrow

first ever, Oct 20

75×

Golden-crowned Kinglet

first ever, Oct 17

25×

Yellow-rumped Warbler

first ever, Oct 18

21×

Rusty Blackbird

first ever, Oct 24

9×

Common Loon

first ever, Oct 24

8×

Dark-eyed Junco

first ever, Oct 20

6×

Going quiet

Regulars earlier, silent for 14 days.

Summer Tanager

last heard Sep 25

13× before

Pileated Woodpecker

last heard Oct 9

11× before

Gray Catbird

last heard Oct 9

8× before

Rose-breasted Grosbeak

last heard Oct 5

5× before

House Sparrow

last heard Sep 24

5× before

Philadelphia Vireo

last heard Sep 26

5× before

Ramping up

Daily rate at least doubled.

Eastern Bluebird

69 recent · 4 before

↑ 56.7×

Northern Flicker

17 recent · 3 before

↑ 18.6×

American Robin

363 recent · 77 before

↑ 15.5×

Downy Woodpecker

233 recent · 62 before

↑ 12.3×

American Crow

354 recent · 118 before

↑ 9.9×

Tufted Titmouse

202 recent · 162 before

↑ 4.1×

Tapering off

Daily rate down by half or more.

Red-headed Woodpecker

2 recent · 18 before

↓ 0.4×

Northern Mockingbird

9 recent · 60 before

↓ 0.5×

Red-shouldered Hawk

25 recent · 166 before

↓ 0.5×

Season by season

newest first · meteorological seasons

Fall in progress

Fall 2026

Detections: 14,657
Species: 60
Days logged: 59
Per logged day: 248.4
New to list: 27

House Finch3412
Northern Cardinal2644
Carolina Chickadee2280

Summer

Summer 2026

Detections: 21,350
Species: 43
Days logged: 76
Per logged day: 280.9

House Finch4253
Mourning Dove3714
Blue Jay2584

The year's rhythm

activity and variety by month, with daylight length

Bars are detections per logged day; the line is how many different species turned up that month. The dashed curve is hours of daylight — photoperiod is the cue that switches on song and breeding behavior, so activity tends to follow it with a lag. Months with no logged days are left blank.

The dawn chorus, by season

share of each season's detections falling in each hour

Summer peak · 1pm Fall peak · 1pm

Shorter nights pull the chorus earlier in summer; in winter it starts late and flattens out. Hours are local time.

Seasonal specialists

species far more active in a season than their own average

Winter

Not enough winter data logged yet.

Spring

Not enough spring data logged yet.

Summer

Purple Martin

155 detections

2.0× avg

Chimney Swift

52 detections

2.0× avg

Barn Swallow

38 detections

2.0× avg

Song Sparrow

28 detections

2.0× avg

Fall

White-throated Sparrow

75 detections

2.0× avg

Northern Mockingbird

69 detections

2.0× avg

Golden-crowned Kinglet

25 detections

2.0× avg

Yellow-rumped Warbler

21 detections

2.0× avg

Seasonal fingerprint

top 20 species · brighter = busier that month (per logged day)

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec Pattern

House Finch too early

Northern Cardinal too early

Blue Jay too early

Mourning Dove too early

Carolina Chickadee too early

American Robin too early

Carolina Wren too early

Common Grackle Summer peak

Red-bellied Woodpecker too early

American Goldfinch Summer peak

Tufted Titmouse too early

Cedar Waxwing too early

American Crow too early

Red-shouldered Hawk too early

Downy Woodpecker Fall peak

Purple Martin Summer peak

Brown-headed Cowbird too early

Eastern Bluebird too early

White-throated Sparrow Fall peak

Northern Mockingbird Fall peak

Patterns come from this one backyard microphone, not range maps: a species labeled "year-round" here simply never left the station's earshot in the seasons logged so far, and "seasonal" labels firm up with each additional year.