A buddy of mine growing up — his family owned two or three WildBird Unlimited stores. Maybe you've seen them — the ones in suburban strip malls with seed displays out front and a feeder on a post by the entrance. They did very well. I underestimated people’s interest in birds!
Birds, Birds, Birds was one of the most responded-to issues I've ever sent. Who knew!?
This weekend I locked in three new species, which puts me at twenty-nine confirmed birds in my Louisville backyard. I've been using Merlin Bird ID — free, two minutes to learn — just stepping out in the morning and evening with my phone, hitting record, letting the app listen.
Twenty-nine birds. One address. To put that in some context: professional urban biodiversity surveys in midwestern cities typically document 30–40 species across entire neighborhood transects — multiple blocks, multiple habitat types, multiple survey points. I'm nearly there from my backyard.
What's struck me more than the number is who they are. Every layer of habitat has something in it. Chimney Swifts working the upper airspace, never landing, spending virtually their entire lives on the wing. A Baltimore Oriole weaving a hanging basket nest from the tip of a high branch. Two woodpecker species running parallel foraging circuits through the same trees on slightly different schedules — the Downy working the smaller branches, the Red-bellied commanding the larger trunks. A cowbird that sneaks its eggs into other birds nests for them to raise, cheeky.
And a Wood Thrush, detected June 13th, which produces what a lot of ornithologists call the most beautiful song in North America. It does it by singing two notes simultaneously — its syrinx functions as two independent instruments in one throat, the tones weaving into a spiraling flute sound that stops people cold the first time they hear it.
At night, a Great Horned Owl.
When an apex predator anchors its territory to your block, it means the prey base your yard supports — the sparrows, finches, small mammals moving through the garden — is substantial enough to hold it there. You didn't just attract birds. You ended up inside the territory of one of the most powerful predators in North American avifauna.
A few weeks ago I planted seeds all over the yard. In two or three weeks I'm going to walk the whole thing with a camera — every plant, identified, what it contributes, why it matters. The birds are the headline. The plants are the infrastructure.
I think we romanticize what other people have. Their land. Their views. Their space. We move through our own yards every morning without realizing what's actually in there.
Twenty-nine species. A functioning urban ecosystem in one Louisville backyard. Yours has one too.
You just have to start paying attention to what's already in it.
I'll keep you posted on the seeds.
Enthusiastically,
Rob Bergeron
Owner–Realtor at Award-Winning Winner Realty
The Morning Bergeron daily track playlist: https://music.apple.com/us/playlist/the-morning-bergeron/pl.u-pMyl2GlSW1N3qv
PS: Residential inventory just crossed 3,606. Of those, 1,272 have been on the market 60+ days — and 495 have been sitting since Valentine's Day with no takers. Multifamily: 152 active, 29 of them also listed since February 14th. These owners need solutions. Rates are holding at 6.35% and I expect them to stay there or climb until the Iran situation resolves. If you're looking in single family or multifamily, now is the time to get in front of motivated sellers. See available multifamily listings →
PSS: Good for Louisville for winning the UFL title in their inaugural season. Nice for the community to have something to be proud of.
Weekly Viewers
NFL — 18.7M F1 — 1.3M UFL — 941K NHL — 546K MLS — 120K USL Championship (LouCity's league) — 376K
The UFL outdraws the NHL — a league with 32 franchises, an 82-game schedule, and a century of history. It draws nearly triple what MLS delivers per game and almost double what LouCity's entire league pulls on its biggest national window.
941,000 football fans. Every week. During the one stretch of the calendar when there is no other football on television. There is more value in being involved in this than I had originally anticipated. Excited about these rumors of a minor league hockey team as well!
PSSS: I think there is a world that could potentially exist where Lou City (our pro soccer team) in the United Soccer League can surpass MLS teams in value and notoriety! The USL is launching the first promotion and relegation system in American professional sports. Perhaps this system will generate more interest in the league than the MLS? Could we see the USL absorb the MLS in 5-10 years, maybe?