You believe in birthday birds, right? By “believe,” of course, I mean you desire them and seek them out to commemorate another year of life. If you haven’t yet embraced the theory or practice of birthday birds, I recommend that, next time your special day rolls around, you make it a point to pursue a seasonally appropriate species you don’t regularly see. Taking down a birthday bird adds joy both to the day and the act.
My birthday bird this weekend ranks high on my list of special sightings: Northern Saw-whet Owl! I rarely catch this cutie at Owl Woods during its spring migration, but this one couldn’t be missed. Corey had a wonderful weekend in Southern California racking up year birds in Orange and Los Angeles Counties. He had a lot to choose from with displaying Clark’s Grebes, hordes of western hummingbirds, breeding plumaged American Avocets and all the other goodies that can be found in the diverse habitats of SoCal. But his favorite, and therefore Best Bird of the Weekend, was a Greater Roadrunner which decided to pretend Corey was Wile E. Coyote as it stayed just out of acceptable camera-range in Irvine Regional Park. Meep-meep!
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.
My first swallows this year (Barn Swallows) in Heidelberg during yet another weekend with amazing spring weather. Mind you, we could use some rain now since the landscape is getting a bit too dry from the sun.
I managed to just get (half an hour ago) Chimming Wedgebills, White-browed Babblers and best of all (and contender for bird of the year) Thick-billed Grasswren, all in a flock in the parking lot of Monkey Mia and all lifers.
Sounds like a great Birthday Mike! I had a great day on Sunday, but have to go with the 5 full breeding plumage Lazuli Buntings, found above 3500 feet in the Sierra De La Lagunna Biosphere.