What a thrilling weekend, rich with epic snow and playoff football and all those other things that happen in January to people who don’t live near me. Hope you enjoyed at least part of the excitement!
From atop a terrific sledding hill, I enjoyed watching American Tree Sparrows lend class and native charm to flocks of House Sparrows. Corey’s Best Bird of the Weekend was any one of the forty-five Canvasback he counted at the World’s Fair Marina in Queens. This species, which has been on the decline in local Christmas Bird Counts, is always a pleasure to see, and Corey was especially pleased to watch and digiscope them at relatively close range with the light behind him.
How about you? 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.
Unquestionably my lifer Christmas Frigatebird. It was female, and I didn’t know what it was until later, but got such good looks once I had a book there was no question about the identity.
On Sunday I popped out to go birding at Avis Dam outside Windhoek. I had to get back to help my wife set up for one of my kids birthday parties, and I was thinking that I probably shouldn’t have bothered going out.
But near the dam I saw an Orange River Francolin, a bird I’ve seen elsewhere, but never near Windhoek where I live. It was my most exciting bird of my 2014 Namibia big year so far.
It might just be laziness, as I rarely get out early when birding here, only when I’m traveling and have an expectation of something exciting.
I also saw a life bird here on the Olympic Peninsula, the Ancient Murrelet. A naturalist pointed out a flock on a New Year’s Eve boat trip around Protection Island, and on Saturday while doing the Seattle Audubon Seabird Survey, I was very excited to see a flock flying low over the water and diving in their distinctive way– straight down into the water– at Fort Flagler near Marrowstone Island.
Best Bird of the Weekend for me was my lifer Snowy Owl at Jones Beach
Two flocks of Lesser Frigatebirds-47 followed by 41 riding the thermals surrounded by Oriental Pratincoles and Fork-tailed Swifts….thank you Cyclone Christine! 🙂
Hiked 11 miles during a High Wind Warning for the Guadalupe Mountains National Park Christmas Bird Count. It was pretty grim, but I did find and photograph a Field Sparrow-the 3rd one in 20 years on the CBC and first for Culberson County in eBird.
For most of you a Tufted Titmouse is no big deal. But they’re pretty rare in Chicago, so I was thrilled to spy one in the “Zoo in Your Backyard” exhibit at the National Zoo in Washington, DC!