Consider this installment of Best Bird of the Weekend the one-handed edition. That describes my typing style after last week’s shoulder surgery. So let me get straight to the point: my best bird of the weekend was an odd silhouette in the trees that binoculars revealed to be an American Robin (have they been gone so long I’ve forgotten their forms?) Corey’s sighting was no less prosaic, a Cooper’s Hawk that has settled into his neighborhood for the winter, terrorizing the pigeons and starlings.
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.
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.
12 Dollarbirds all trying to get dry in the tops of the trees after a torrential downpour. Only ever seen 2 in an area before-they are here from asia to breed. 44mm rain in about 30 minutes!! Chance of a cyclone this week-bring in the rarities and keep the wind to a minimum!
Crested Quetzal at Refugio Paz de las Aves. I hope you have quick recovery from surgery. All the best!
Went on a “wild goose chase” this weekend with my father and two other birders from the Cincinnati area. We managed to find, other than the omnipresent Canada Geese, Greater White-Fronted, Cackling, and my lifer, 2 Ross’ Geese.
Prosaic indeed … the one morning I had a few hours to spare in a tiny preserve in Atlanta, and I picked up a Carolina Chickadee while still on the hotel property. But it’s a lifer for me!
@Corey: I definitely heard, but didn’t get to see, some Brown-headed Nuthatches. They were all around me but invisible. So I’m glad you got a good look at one in N.C.!
@Nate: Can you help me out with an ID? As I was wrapping up, I spotted a green bird—I mean really green, top and bottom. About the size of a warbler/sparrow, with two white wingbars, swooping at the edge of the woods from trees to bushes back to trees. I’m thinking some kind of vireo, or maybe a Pine Warbler——would any of those be common in the South in the late fall?
@Meredith- Your mystery bird is almost certainly a Pine Warbler. They’re common year-round across the south, but seem to be more evident in the winter months as our resident birds are augmented by migrants from further north. That and their green-gold appearance really makes them stand out when you get a look at them.
Funny you mention vireos, Pines are definitely Vireo-ish warblers, heavy billed and more deliberate in their movements, especially compared to the rest of their frantic family.
Brants! So many Brants! Despite the wind and rain we did make it to Jamaica Bay NWR. Weather was no impediment because the storm was keeping the birds inland (as in the parking lot 🙂 ). Aside from these lifers, I saw a large flock of Ruddy Ducks. I usually only see them in 1’s and 2’s in Maryland. Also a possible Marsh Hawk but I would not swear an oath to it. We could only stay a short time, I’ll definitely be going back next time I am in town!
@Meredith: They are great little birds!
@MK: Glad you got out but I hope you have better weather next time…
@Nate——thanks for the help! It was hard to tell b/c most of the images of the Pine Warblers I’ve found look more gold than green. Wow, 1.5 hours and two lifers (and both still on the hotel’s borders). Woo-hoo!!
@MK——Ruddy Ducks rawk. 🙂
Meredith, have a look at Ruby-crowned Kinglet.
My best bird of the weekend was a stake-out Yellow-breasted Chat in coastal BC–first time I’d ever seen one on the same day as a Northern Hawk Owl (and a Northern Saw-whet to boot).
Get feeling better quick, Mike!
My best bird of the weekend was a toss up between Black-breasted Wood-Quail seen feeding on a trail in the Santa Elena Reserve or Chiriqui Quail-Dove seen along the main road up to the Monteverde Reserve.
@Meredith- Rick’s right (and Wright). RC Kinglet didn’t occur to me, but that’s definitely one to consider as well.
@Rick: Thanks for the tip. Hmm, now I don’t know. The bird I saw did look more green than gold, and vivid green at that, but I didn’t see the reddish crown. I do think it was more the Pine Warbler’s size and shape too. Oh well, off the list then, I guess.
My best bird of the weekend, by far, was an awesome Bohemian Waxwing in northern NH that posed for photos, my best yet of this bird. See 13 photos on blog post,
http://stokesbirdingblog.blogspot.com/2010/12/bohemian-waxwing-beauty.html
Best bird came close to being the alpine Banded Dottrel I saw up on the Tongariro crossing, but the great views of a Long-tailed Cuckoo (or Koel) at the end were the best really. I’ve been trying to see this bird well for 4 years.
Worst bird of weekend: The Sharp-shinned Hawk haunting my yard. I woke up to the Sharpy sitting in the tree overlooking my feeders, and it wasn’t till 3pm that the neighborhood birds decided to take a chance and come visit. Except for my courageous Carolina Wren. He not only pranced around the yard eating to his heart’s content, he sang!
@Meredith- Pine Warblers can be really variable, and run the gamut from the glowing gold adult males to dingy green-brown first year birds so I wouldn’t completely rule it out.
That said, the behavior is probably your best clue. If it was flitty and spastic it was probably a Kinglet. If it was heavier and deliberate, and stayed in one place for longer than a second at a time, you’d have a Pine Warbler.
@Nate: Thanks for your patience and willingness to school me! I did get really good looks at it out in the open, perched here and there for a minute or two at a time. Plus it was longer and slimmer, and not the puffball shape I usually associate with kinglets. So I’ll go with “probable Pine Warbler” and hope I get to confirm it again someday.