How are the holidays treating you? One hopes that the wheel of karma turns in your favor during this time of festivity and giving. One also hopes you’re seeing excellent birds!
Everyone who lives in Rochester, NY knows about the million crows roosting within the city limits. The skies over every neighborhood stream with murder after murder as the sun sets each evening. This weekend, however, I found myself closer to the crows’ critical mass while they were establishing their nightly roost. The unexpected but entirely unholy cacophony produced by one million cawing, croaking crows meant that American Crow was my most memorable, if not best bird of the weekend. Corey wished that his BBOTW would be a Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch. Though it could have been either the Barred Owl or Eastern Screech Owl he saw on Saturday morning, it ended up being either of the two adult Bald Eagles on the Hudson River in his hometown of Saugerties, NY on Christmas.
Bald Eagle over the Hudson River
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.
I think it was the Variagated Fairy-wrens I saw. Great views in the sun of stunning birds.
A female Marsh Harrier who went from “OMG – marsh harrier is now on my garden list” to “Ooh, she’s still loafing around out there.” to “part of the wallpaper” over the last 3 days. My local kestrel family aren’t as happy about her being around though.
A pair of tufted titmice, at my backyard feeder. Titmice might not be too exciting for most birders in the eastern US, but titmice in the North Country of New York (the St. Lawrence Valley, north of the Adirondacks) are a rare treat. And just in time for the CBC.
A Great Gray Owl near Point Pelee Ontario. It was actvely hunting and at one point landed within ten feet of us!
@TomL: I saw Tufted Titmice outside my parents’ house on Christmas morning, too. Again, nothing too special for most folks, but we don’t seem to have many of them in Chicago.
Likewise, I haven’t found many White-breasted Nuthatches in the Windy City, but lo and behold (also on Christmas) two flew to trees right along the tracks as the train pulled in to the Brewster, NY train station. Certainly not rare, but a nice Christmas treat for me!
I opened my eyes on Christmas morning and at the suet outside my window was the most gorgeous Red-headed Woodpecker. It came back later with another one. We don’t get this treat very often in the northern part of the lower peninsula of Michigan in the winter.