Birding

Best Bird of the Weekend (Last of January 2017)

January 30, 2017 by Mike 5 Comments

The end of January, undistinguished at least from a holiday perspective, means different things to different people in different parts of the world. For me, the end of this long, cold month signals the beginning of the end of my patience for cold weather. Which will give out first: winter or my tolerance of winter? If you know me, you already know the answer…

Nonetheless, winter means winter ducks in these parts, so I rambled up to Lake Ontario to see if I could scare up some scoters. None of those cold-weather waterfowl turned up while I was freezing my face off, but a hundred or so Long-tailed Ducks made the trip worthwhile. In that same vein, Corey’s Best Bird of the Weekend was any of the twelve Snow Buntings he and his friend Seth spotted as they walked the beach at Breezy Point. Snow Buntings are fun birds any time and especially when they are the first of the year for the checklist!

How about you? 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.

best bird weekend

Written by Mike

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.

5 Comments

John January 30, 2017 at 11:13 am
Seeing an Iceland Gull was pretty neat.
Jochen January 30, 2017 at 2:09 pm
A Green Woodpecker being unsuccessfully attacked by a Euro Sparrowhawk was the best avian action of the weekend. Also Fieldfares were nice at the same location – very common here at Heidelberg now, but always a treat due to ttheir neat looks.
Wendy Feltham January 31, 2017 at 1:05 am
I am warming up in Kauai, so seeing five Nene, the State Bird of Hawaii, was a treat. It is a gorgeous goose, kind of like the Brant Goose that is so common where I live on the Olympic Peninsula, but with lovely patterns of feathers on its long neck.
Tom Brown February 1, 2017 at 2:38 pm
We made a very fast trip up to the Seattle area, and I got to re-visit the Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge. There was an amazing amount of ducks, gesse, eagles and other birds, but I was most excited to see a Brown Creeper working its was thru the mossy old evergreens.
Venarae Lennox February 1, 2017 at 3:17 pm
I just saw a entire flock of all white birds, approximately the size of sparrows here where I live that I have never seen before for the 24 years I have lived here. What are they? It is snowing today and cold, 1 Feb 2017. Anyone know? They flew from the hedgerow and took off and have not seen again today.