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Have you ever found yourself unable to pack properly for a trip because you can’t conceive of conditions dramatically different from the ones you were experiencing in the moment? What I mean here is the way the memory of desert heat becomes impossible to evoke in the depth of winter, or how that same bone-chilling cold is forgotten during a hot and muggy city summer. Forgetting how one feels in certain conditions and thus failing to prepare accordingly can lead to a lot of suffering.
This question came to mind as I rapidly fled Island Cottage Woods this weekend. Apparently, since I haven’t yet encountered mosquitoes this summer, I forgot that they existed. This deplorable lack of foresight landed me in an environment with plenty of resident birds that I was utterly unable to watch while being slowly drained of my lifeblood by swarms of ravenous bugs. But where you find flies, you find flycatchers and I found plenty. My favorite was an Acadian Flycatcher feeding its fat fledgling. Corey’s Best Bird of the Weekend was a Barred Owl he heard calling shortly before midnight on Saturday night when he and Daisy took a walk at his folks’ house in Saugerties, New York. Something about the sound of a Barred Owl calling from dark woods is just perfect.
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.
I go for Northern Waterthrush. Now that many birds are becoming quiet it’s more of a challenge to find them, but Northern Waterthrushes can often find you if you’re in their realm and if they do they let you know. I had 3 or 4 telling me to get lost.
One of my favorite places is a trail that leads through a wooded swamp (NEVER forget the bug repellent ! ). That’s where the waterthrushes were plus several Veerys – and they have become much easier to see now that they’re feeding young.
More on these and others on my blog http://www.mybirdoftheday.ca
Not 100 yards down the James Webb Management Area in Garnett, SC access road did I hear not one, but three, Bachmann’s Sparrows singing in the open pine forest. Later in the morning, one very graciously popped to the top of his shrub for a few minutes while I was about 10 feet away. I believe the final tally was 11 for the day, with 4 sightings. That was a very conservative number considering how many were singing. Awesome day!
I didn’t have to see the Baltimore Oriole at Chicago’s Magic Hedge this morning for it to be my BBotW … its clear, loud, and oh-so-pretty song, from deep in the foliage, made it a lock for the honor.
Yellowhammer was bird 240 of the year for me.Always tend to see them in the winter.