Best Bird of the Weekend (Last of August 2010)
By Mike • August 30, 2010 • 14 commentsThe bad news is that summer is almost over. On the other hand, birding is getting interesting again in many parts of the world, including mine. How about yours? Please share the fascinating details of your best bird of the weekend…
I have a few standouts to choose from but fall in favor of the ominous kettle of Turkey Vultures wheeling over my gym on Sunday; people must be working out pretty hard in order to generate thermals, right? Corey’s best bird of the weekend was any of the three shearwater species he spotted on the CRESLI pelagic trip (finally!), though the Thick-billed Parrots at the Queens Zoo (part of a captive-breeding program) were, in his words, pretty darn cool too.
What was your best bird of the weekend? Tell us in the comments section about the rarest, loveliest, or most fascinating bird you observed. If you’ve blogged about your weekend experience, you should include a link in your comment.
What a Great Shearwater!
Tags: best bird, weekend
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Visiting my relatives 200 k’s south of Heidelberg again. Completely rained out and barely any birds seen at all, but a flock of 24 migrating Black Kites were “pretty darn cool”, easily the largest flock of the species I have ever seen in Germany, almost reminiscent of Mid East raptor migration.
And Mike, are you sure they were looking for thermals over the gym and not heart-attacks?
Jochen, that’s why the vultures seemed so ominous!
Long weekend here in the UK, so I guess the Water Rail I spotted at Inner Marsh Farm had to be the winner. First one I’ve ever seen not going down the gullet of a heron.
Hi Mike,
The best I was able to come up with was a Pileated Woodpecker that made his fleeting appearance for only a few minutes at the back of my yard where it meets the woods.
Just like the last time three years ago, by the time I saw and identified him he was working trees out of my line of sight.
I’m looking forward to the transitional fall birds that work their way through middle TN.
Great blog of course.
Jeff
Yesterday a female painted bunting was taking a bath in the bowl of water I put out on my platform bird feeder. It made me laugh.
My best bird might well have been the very individual pictured above
Hard to tell. Black-breasted Wood-Quail or Bare-necked Umbrellabird at the foothills or Reddish Egret or Stilt Sandpiper at the coastal saltponds of Cocle province in central Panamá? You decide http://janbirdingblog.blogspot.com/2010/08/umbrellas-show_29.html
The bird in that photo. Yes, that exact individual.
@Nick and DG: That was a rather nice ird, wasn’t it? A full post on the pelagic is in the works…
@Corey, Nick & DG: Oh yeah? Was it? Well, did you see 2-f’4 of those?
Huh, did you?
Sigh.
I need a pelagic soon.
This weekend the schedule was too tight for formal birding; all of my spots recently have come while jogging.
So at first it wasn’t going to be a weekend bird … last Thursday, was lucky enough to witness a pair of Great Egrets swooping in over a lake (and a trio of oblivious perching Green Herons) to their nests in the trees. Some girls sitting on a park bench noticed them too and said “Wow!” It’s cool when non-birders get caught up the action.
But then, yesterday, heard (and then saw) one of the local Red-tailed Hawks perched atop the spire of the Episcopal church. *Then* (yes, it gets better!) further along my meandering running route, half a mile away, I saw presumably the same hawk on a utility pole, being squawked at and badgered by what looked like a Northern Mockingbird. (It was one of the poles with arms … both birds weren’t sharing the top!) The hawk sat there impassively for about a minute, then chased the mockingbird away.
I love being in the right place at the right time!
Got my life Pileated Woodpecker, life Least Flycatcher, and my best views ever of Varied Thrush and Solitary Sandpiper. I am posting a series at http://www.IdahoBirdingBlog.com
A pair of Baird’s Sandpipers at Jamaica Bay were the best birds for me, though it was nice to see the warblers arriving- especially Canada Warbler, which I don’t see that much.
The report from Jamaica Bay is at my blog- http://www.birdersflightlog.blogspot.com
We finished our Quadricentennial Paddle of Lake Champlain this weekend. And so I saw: a loon, a belted kingfisher, an osprey, lots and lots of mallards,and a giant flock of double-crested cormorants. All in all it was a lovely weekend on many levels