October is upon us. What awesome autumn birds have you seen north of the Equator? What super spring species have you spotted south of the Equator? Step right up and share your best bird of the weekend.
Since I could not seek out the best bird, one of the best – a fetching female Black-throated Blue Warbler – came to me. Corey’s best was, without a doubt, a Summer Tanager at Fort Tilden on Sunday. Not only is a Summer Tanager a pretty good bird in New York, it is even better in October!
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.
Mike is a leading authority in the field of standardized test preparation, but he's also a traveler who fully expects to see every bird in the world. Besides founding 10,000 Birds in 2003, Mike has also created a number of other entertaining but now extirpated nature blog resources, particularly the Nature Blog Network and I and the Bird.
Family business kept me close to home (Heidelberg/Germany), so the best bird was “only” a group of Long-tailed Tits, while the rest of the German birding world had a big birding party with strong winds bringing in quite a few vagrants.
sigh.
best bird of the weekend for me was a superb 5 foot away look at a male American Redstart – the best look yet of this beauty for me.
Hmmm. The master falconer flying the hybrid Gyrfalcon was cool. Spotting a faraway kettle of hawks from the upper deck at Citi Field was cooler. (And nearly made up for a painful, painful loss.)
But best bird of the weekend? I’d have to go with a couple of immature Bald Eagles soaring down the Hudson River. It’s really hard to top an eagle.
(And from the huge to the tiny, Corey, we spotted some manic Ruby-crowned Kinglets too!)
A Black-throated Green Warbler would be the highlight. I had to work for it too, that bugger was as hyper as a Redstart, and much harder to see in the yellow-green foliage!
Black-bellied plover near Antelope Island, SLC, UT! It’s been awhile since I’ve seen this guy.
The first Snow Goose of winter over the sewage ponds at Iona–always a moving sight.
Grey Warbler in full song made me feel all spring-like.
I saw my first Great-Horned Owl in eastern Utah on Saturday. It was possibly the highlight of my year!
Here in Costa Rica, the rains subsided enough for a trip up nearby Volcan Barva. Best birds were a toss up between Black Guan and Resplendent Quetzal. To read more about my day spent birding on rough mountain roads check out my post about it:
http://birdingcraft.com/wordpress/2010/10/05/mountain-roads-and-volcan-barva-birding-in-costa-rica/
White-backed woodpecker at Lahemaa National Park, Estonia (closely followed by Hazel Grouse and a flock of Willow Tits, the latter getting more difficult to see in my part of England)