Do you get out birding much? If you’re checking in here on a Monday morning, chances are you have a bird tale to tell. Then again, maybe like me you simply enjoy hearing about the avian observations of others even when you can’t make time for your own bird chases. Speaking of Birdchasers, Rob Fergus may not be a medical doctor, but his prescribed 20 Bird Minimum Daily Requirement seems to be a sure cure for what ails most of us. Be honest: how often are you reaching that mark?
I’ll admit that I rarely reach 20 bird species a day, especially this time of year. This weekend, however, I needed to take my mind off all those gaudy birds Corey was scoping down at the Space Coast Birding and Wildlife Festival. Plus, the time was finally right for me to savor a local slice of that southern Snowy Owl invasion. Seth and I hit the Summerville pier on Lake Ontario to spy the bird who’s been hanging out for the last month or two. The bad news was that it had flown away right before we arrived, but the good news is that it hadn’t traveled far. Dive-bombing crows marked its perch on a low roof, which we could view after a bit of trouble. That magnificent predator was too distant for decent photos, so I snapped some of the Long-tailed Ducks on which the owl has been sustaining itself…
As for Corey, his Space Coast experience is yielding ABA birds and lifers in buckets. If pressed, he’ll acknowledge a Gray Kingbird found by Doug Gochfeld at Viera Wetlands — his fifth lifer and tenth ABA-area bird of his Florida trip — as his his Best Bird of the Weekend™ .
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.
Two owls to choose from this weekend – an adult and juvenile Spotted Eagle Owl, or a pair of African Wood Owls. Hard choice, but I think the fluffy baby probably has it! Pictures on the Safari Ecology Blog.
Fairly quite weekend – mostly spent failing to get a role as an extra in the Hobbit. But the Australasian Gannets were nice.
Discovering that there are still Crested Tits in my neighbourhood was nice, as was the adult male Goshawk that dropped out of the sky over my backyard on Sunday to try and make a Rose-ringed Parakeet his lunch – the experience was family-friendly though as the parakeet prevailed.
Having heard of Corey’s Florida fortunes though, and seeing as we are in the midst of a mad, bad competition, I have to name the only new bird for my year list: Siskins flying over Luisenpark in Mannheim/Germany, #74.
Best bird was the New Zealand Storm Petrel… follow up, the New Zealand Dotterel… honorable mention, the Black Petrel.
R. Bruce – Sounds like a top weekend up north!
Duncan- I would LOVE to be in the Hobbit movie myself! I am visiting from AUS and did a Hauraki Gulf pelagic yesterday, hence the NZSP.
Despite loving the LOTR movies, a NZSP beats being part of the Hobbit movie.
All week long I hear the high pitch keening of Cedar Waxwings high in the tree tops, zooming back and forth and circling all around our neighborhood. Infuriating, I tell you, as they never come down from the high branches. And then, one day, they light in our berry tree.
Here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/seanpaulkelley/6767771369/in/photostream
And here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/seanpaulkelley/6767771133/in/photostream
Pine Grosbeaks, at a feeder, along with Common and one or maybe two Hoary Redpolls.
I hadn’t realized that Gray Kingbirds could look so “shrikeish”. An all-day kinds birthday party on Saturday made it a quiet weekend for me too in terms of birds. Out of the very few birds noticed, my best was Crimson-fronted Parakeet.
I Had a really special weekend! I went up to Nylsvlei Nature Reserve to assist with the woodland bird census and had so much time to bird it was a real treat. Out of the 140 odd species seen it is difficult to choose as you can imagine but I think the highlight has to be the adult male Western Marsh Harrier with possibly the Dwarf Bittern a close second!
I walked along the beaches of Port Townsend, Washington, where I live, on the Olympic Peninsula. I didn’t see anything unusual. I always enjoy watching Surf Scoters, and they were spread out in a group of about 100. But the best bird for me was the Horned Grebe. They are common here, and I watched six of them as I walked. I wrote about them recently on my blog, calling them the most adorable bird.
http://web.me.com/larryfisher1/Bikes,_Birds,_and_Beaches/Blog/Blog.html
Prob’ly the Razorbills at Barnegat Light, New Jersey.
I had a three-lifer weekend!!!! Snowy owl, greater white-fronted goose, and blue-morph snow goose. All in and around Somerset and Warren counties NJ.
The large flock of snow buntings at jones beach for sure
Razorbill, along with gannets, harlequin ducks and common eiders, all at Barnegat Light, NJ. Missed the red knot, but a kind photographer showed me her very crisp pictures of it. Jetty walk was challenging, but well worth the trek.
There’s been a Green-tailed Towhee hanging around in the game lands surrounding a local lake for about two months now. I had a great view of it sitting in a bush in the sun making cat-like noises on Sunday. Sadly, I couldn’t take pictures this time because my good camera died earlier this month.
@Katrina: That hurts because I just dipped one in Florida today. 🙁
@Corey: You could always visit Pennsylvania after you get done in Florida. I don’t think this towhee is likely to leave for at least a little while longer.
We’ve had Bald Eagles flying overhead here in New Rochelle, NY.