Another weekend gone, another week ahead; are you satisfied with how you spent the last few days?
Blue Jays in my area vied for attention more obnoxiously than usual, but my best birds of the weekend were a trio of Common Mergansers winging it over ice-covered Irondequoit Bay. Corey’s best bird of the weekend was a Green-winged Teal. At least, it is a Green-winged Teal according to the American Birding Association. If you ask the International Ornithologists’ Union, the bird Corey considered his best bird of the weekend is a Common Teal. Confused yet? The duck, which we are sure you can find in the image, didn’t seem at all confused about its identity. Corey, however, is confused about whether or not he should count the Eurasian Green-winged (Common) Teal on his year list or not…
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 had a Short-eared Owl, which was a life bird, near State College, PA hunting on some grasslands that are owned by Rockview Penitentiary. I also got species #100 for the year, Lesser Scaup. I have blogged about my weekend experiences at http://wordsaboutbirds.blogspot.com
I found a single tree that had a pair of downy AND a pair of hairy woodpeckers bouncing around in it. Hardly uncommon birds (especially around a tree with a suet feeder on it), but they kept posing like a plate from a field guide illustrating the difference between downies and hairies.
And finally got a good shot of this guy: http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5251/5473218438_740834c138_b.jpg
If Monday morning (= today, before work!) counts as weekend – and it should – then it was two Redwings perched nicely in the tree just out my front door.
If Monday mornings don’t count, the BBOTW would be an adult male Sparrowhawk.
All south of Heidelberg, Germany.
Twitched a Great White Egret.
I moan about it here…
http://norfolknbirds.wordpress.com/2011/02/28/egrets-ive-had-a-few/
Got out to see about 40 bald eagles on the ice on the Hudson River in Peekskill, NY, in the trees along the shore, and flying above. Cool!
Saw a Hoary Redpoll in my backyard. Read about it here.
http://punkrockbigyear.blogspot.com/2011/02/stop-saying-that-name-or-ill-have-to.html
During a morning on the slopes of Poas Volcano, my best bird was a Buff-fronted Qauil-Dove that was speed walking through the understory of montane rain forest.
Got my FOY goldencrowned kinglet, as I was running in Gallup park, Ann Arbor (michigan)
Counts for the bigby too….
Hunting a nowhere-to-be-found Northern Saw-whet Owl in the Bronx (you did your best, Hank!) I unexpectedly ended up with two lifers: a pair of American Wigeons and at least four Long-eared Owls! Woo-hoo!
@Kirby: That. Sounds. Incredibly. Awesome. Way to go!
@Liz: Good to know the Bald Eagles are still around. I’ll try to get up there next weekend!
@Meredith – Congrats on the lifers! Isn’t it wonderful seeing owls within NYC limits?
My Best is tied between the American Woodcock I heard and saw (if you call a dark blob on a path seeing something) at Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge at sunset, and the two Horned Grebes I had at Floyd Bennett Field earlier in the day. Horned Grebes are fairly common during the winter in Queens, but these birds are coming into their colors and swam in close to shore, together, almost wing-to-wing, very sweetly.
@Donna: It was amazing. And nice that the Long-ears decided to hang out in the general vicinity of the Saw-whet sighting, otherwise we would have totally missed them. Your Woodcock is pretty impressive too!
My best bird of the weekend was on Monday. I saw a snow bunting in Kissena Park in Queens NYC. It was a lifer for me.
I saw another birder who told me about a fox sparrow. I went to the area he mentioned and saw the snow bunting. I wanted to tell the other birder about the uncommon sighting, but he left the park.
My BBOW would have to have been either the Sandhill Cranes and flew over my house on the last day of the GBBC, or the Sharpie that flew threw my yard on the same count day. I choose the Sharpie because it was the first time I’ve seen one in my yard. Funny thing, after it flew in and perched near the feeders, I didn’t see any other birds around. Go figure 😉
It was part of my GBBC day #4 post but I didn’t get a photo of it.
@Joseph: That other birder was me! It’s a good thing I saw my first Snow Bunting in Queens not too long ago or I would be seriously jealous!
The male Antillean crested hummingbird, elusive for a week, we saw on the last morning of our trip to Virgin Gorda. It was right outside the villa, zipping into aloe flowers, as the sun flashed on the crest.
@Corey – You need to wear your 10K Birds shirt when you’re out in the field~! Or start a new NYC trend – birders introducing themselves.
“@Joseph: That other birder was me!”
@Corey- I thought you looked familiar. We met briefly at a Queens County Birding Club meeting a year or two ago.
Great views of Ring-billed Gulls here in Kitsilano. I know, I know, but I’ve got a soft spot for ’em!