Ever have one of those weeks so full of unbelievable birding that the prospect of ogling even one more avian seems untenable, if not entirely insane? My experience of just half of the Week Competition of this year’s gtbc utterly drained me. However, even that didn’t stop me from noticing that the American Tree Sparrows at my mother-in-law’s feeders have given way to cute little chippies; a Chipping Sparrow here signals spring even when the weather still says winter! Corey, on the other hand, found early summer in the form of a gorgeous Piping Plover…
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.
Throughly enjoyed checking out my first vagrant woodchat shrike right up to the point where a family of tourists walked straight through its spot dispatching it to the middle distance. On the upside the shrike itself wasn’t too bothered and I got some good looks and some OK shots before it fled.
Hmm, tough to choose – displaying blue bearded bee-eater or calling drongo-cuckoo! This was on the outskirts of Bangalore.
It was lovely to see the first of the season Palm preening on a fence… but, honestly, watching Mr. Cardinal woo Ms. Cardinal with yummy little tidbits was just one of delightful details that birding offers…
My best bird was a great-horned owl. I was about to go to bed, and I looked out my window to see if the rain stopped when I saw a large bird perched in a tree. I grabbed my binoculars assuming I would see a red-tailed hawk.
Once I got a good look at the bird I realized it was not a hawk. It was an owl, and from the size and plumage I could tell it was a great-horned owl. I occasionally see red-tailed hawks from my apartment window in Queens NYC, but I have never seen an owl.
I’m not sure where the owl came from. I know from ebird owls are seen fairly regularly at Alley Pond Park, but that park is a few miles away from my apartment. From photos I was shown by another birder a few years ago large owls were nesting in Kissena Park. Kissena Park is a few blocks away from my apartment. Maybe the owl was from Kissena Park.
Red Crossbills in Southern Ontario, a life bird that I did not expect to see this year, never mind in the spring. They seem to be nesting in Ganaraska Forest, only 45 minutes outside of Toronto.
Nice Piping Plover! I cannot wait to read about the GTBC. I spent the weekend guiding in highland forests around El Toucanet Lodge in the Talamanca Mountains of Costa Rica. Quetzals are kind of scarce this year but we still managed to see a ridiculous looking male on our last day. My best bird, though, was a rare Silver-throated Jay that played hide in seek in the canopy foliage.
The best? Perhaps the Summer Tanager fly-over. But maybe the hundreds of Tree Swallows massing. Both species were seen at San Jacinto Wildlife Area near Hemet CA, less than an hour from my home in Palm Springs CA.
A North Island Saddleback in a suburban garden. Hope he made it back to the safety of the sanctuary.
@Everyone: Great Birds!
@Joseph: I don’t know anything about any owls at Kissena. Maybe we should all get out and look harder?
@Mark Leggett: I love San Jacinto, though I have only visited it once. Even the area around the preserve is great though.
Best bird of the weekend had to be the(very cooperative) Yellow-legged Gull in Hyannis, MA.
Two juvenile White-backed Night Herons in Kruger Park, South Africa. Not a rarity, just really difficult to see.
My best bird of the week: Large (6 foot wingspan, easily) black (the only two colors I could see under the extant viewing conditions are grayish white and grayish black, and this looked like the latter) wings moving like a crane’s (but it could have been anything) and only visible for one and a half seconds as it flew by the window I happen to be looking out of and behind the house across the street. Very cool. I wonder what i was?
Blue Jay takes the prize! This is my nephew Jake’s favorite bird, second favorite is any kind of woodpecker. We went for a walk through Central Park Monday morning. His great joy was finding a dozen Blue Jays, plus a Red-bellied Woodpecker, on the other side of the “mountain”. (This is what Jake, who is 7 years old, calls those huge granite rocks that are part of the Central Park landscape.) My joy was watching his excitement.