Perhaps you are familiar with the bit of verse from James Russell Lowell that sings, “And what is so rare as a day in June? Then, if ever, come perfect days.” Even if the words are new to you, the sentiment surely resonates. This month may have brought uncommon cold and rain to Upstate New York, but June went out on an exceedingly high note for us.
Still, I didn’t travel far afield this weekend. Luckily, for birds, I didn’t have to, as a skulky Winter Wren sought shelter right outside my dining room window, adding a highly improbable third wren species to my yard list. Corey was out birding on Saturday morning in Queens and early on Sunday morning he visited the tern colony at Nickerson Beach. Normally, one of the species at the colony would be his Best Bird of the Weekend but the grassy areas have hosted some lingering vagrant Black-bellied Whistling Ducks of late. Any of the ten birds in the flock is Corey’s Best Bird of the Weekend.
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’m torn between the three common loons we watched fishing for hours or the family of common mergansers that had 13 tiny babies swimming along the side of the lake. So much fun to watch!
I have to go with the Yellow-billed cuckoo up in Florida Canyon Saturday morning.
Razorbill
I found a good number of Foster’s Terns at Lake Cuitzeo. Some of them turned out to be babies, which suggests the species breeds there. It was previously believed to not be present in summer at the lake