The beginning of August raises all kinds of mixed feelings, especially if you live in a temperate zone north of the Equator. Are we excited that we still have a month of more of summer weather left or bummed that fall migration is still that far off? Do we feel weird about being psyched about shorebirds, at least this month? And parents are doubly conflicted… is it OK to say that you’re glad that your kids are going back to school soon (maybe not soon enough)?
I will share on the record that I am not particularly psyched about shorebirds during any month of the year, but somehow we’ve enjoyed an epic shorebird summer here in the Rochester region. I added yet another new Monroe County bird in the form of a Stilt Sandpiper this weekend, which is the only way this species earns my Best Bird honors. Corey is enjoying life visiting relatives in southern California and has seen a bunch of birds he hasn’t seen awhile. While at San Joaquin Wildlife Refuge he tracked down the long-staying Neotropic Cormorants, a new Orange County bird for him and then found a Black Tern, which was also new for him on the state. It turned out that someone had reported the Black Tern the day before but because Corey thought he had discovered it he decided that one was his Best Bird of the Weekend.
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.
I organized a boat trip out of Anacortes Sunday hoping for the Horned Puffin that has been seen there off and on all summer. No HOPU but lots of our usual west coast Tufted Puffins, Common Murres along with great numbers of gulls. Especially good to see lots of juvenile Heermann’s Gulls after several years of almost none. It looks like a much better breeding year in their Gulf of Mexico breeding islands.