We may be a full month into 2011, but the year is still too new to judge. Otherwise, my prediction would be the coming of a new Ice Age, at least on the east coast of the U.S.! Not only has snow relentlessly blanketed the Northeast, but even the Sunshine State is feeling the chill. Fortunately, fine birds remain a fixture even in these bitter times.
Corey and I are both independently spoiled for choices this weekend. My best birds of the weekend were woodpeckers; a scan of central Florida specialties turned up a Red-cockaded Woodpecker in the early morning and Red-headed Woodpecker in late afternoon. Corey’s is a toss-up between the best ever looks he ever had at Thick-billed Murre and his first-ever adult male King Eider.
Thick-billed Murre
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.
Okay, maybe – just maybe – I am doing this to lessen Corey’s delight at seeing a male King Eider, but I’ve had the best views of a Hawfinch since I’ve stopped having a bird feeder in the late 1980ies (never had a garden or front lawn since).
I saw a fairly large flock of Snow Buntings, maybe about 50 birds. Some Horned Larks were mixed in with the group.
http://onejackdawbirding.blogspot.com/2011/01/snow-buntings-galore.html
just send my bins to Nikon for repairs (I hope they will do as good as job as they advertise!), so I was basically blind during the whole week end….but a pair of red-bellied woodpeckers in my yard were the first I’ve seen this year in my yard!
White-winged Crossbills at Seven Presidents Park, NJ, again. This time it was special ’cause it was a Life Bird for a friend on her birthday. We were wandering around the park looking for the Crossbills, who had flown 5-minutes before we drove into the parking lot, as birds tend to do. Looking and talking, as birders tend to do. I see a bird feeding on the ground southeast of the playground, an area thus far not touted as a good place to find the crossbills. “Oh, a goldfinch,” I say. “Where?” asks my friend. “Over…wait, Not a Goldfinch.” The White-wings start streaming into the pine tree next to us on cue.
@Jochen: I thumb my nose at you. Or something.
Had a bird filled weekend of guiding around Carara National Park so it is hard to pick a best bird but Scaly-throated Leaftosser comes to mind while male Blue-crowned Manakin, Bairds Trogon, Pearl Kite, and 15 Southern Lapwings are contenders. Nevertheless, I would trade all of them for a lifer Thick-billed Murre!
Dovekie in Gloucester Harbor.
Redpoll at the feeder was an easy choice. But Brown Thrasher in the snow and Iceland Gull circling my head weren’t bad runner ups either. Or the murre or eider for that matter. Corey, any chance you got a shot of the eider? Have a suspicion that there’s been more than one adult(ish) male in the general area.
Mine was a lifer in the form of a Grey Wagtail that hasn’t been seen in our province since the ’90’s. I didn’t find the bird but it was a great bird to watch anyway.
http://www.thelazybirder.blogspot.com
Ooh and a Purple Indigobird that I found on Sunday..
Sorry my first comment didn’t post but my best bird of the weekend was a lifer in the form of a Grey Wagtail that hasn’t been in our province since the ’90’s.