The odd climate patterns lately have conspired with my already suspect grasp of phenology to completely baffle my sense of season. As I’m sure you’ve heard me mention once or twice, winter comes early–very early–to western New York. Yet we’ve barely seen a flake of frost so far. Even more peculiar, I think our foliage just hit peak last week. This seems at least a couple of weeks off what I expect. Has weather and seasonal activity been screwy where you live?
Corey’s Best Bird of the Weekend™ was a rather suspect Eurasian Wigeon in Queens. Check out his alleged record shot and tell me it’s not some aberrant Mallard… My weekend was a lot less birdy; following the aforementioned foliage peak, we all experienced why autumn is also called fall. Many hours of raking were accompanied by the tinkling mockery (or maybe mocking tinks) of Black-capped Chickadees.
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.
My best bird was a tree, an old oak tree to be precise.
We went on a family outing to a playground in the hills above Leimen/Germany, and I got to sit under this huge and old oak for about an hour. During this period, a Greater Spotted Woodpecker, a Middle Spotted Woodpecker, a Green Woodpecker, many Nuthatches, and both species of Treecreeper (Short-toed and Common) visited the tree allowing for some killer views. And then a Red Squirrel hopped by.
Neither of them are particularly uncommon or even rare, but the combination of all, the amazing autumn foliage, and a playful son all added up to the greatest hour of the weekend.
I’m not sure if the best bird was the beautiful Clay-colored Sparrow that I found with my friends up in Humboldt County along the V St loop yesterday or the beautiful adult Northern Goshawk that flew by our car and past the row of field trip participants my friend was leading on Satruday. Both are pretty awesome birds for that area.
I was visiting family north of Detroit, and in my brother’s sanctuary back yard, I saw a pair of Wood Thrushes. Heard them first. What a beautiful song! An unusual sighting, since there is no forest very nearby. Also was quite wistful watching the distinctive “V” of migrating geese. Winter is drawing near for us in the Upper Midwest.