Our annual ration of glorious June weekends is now half-spent. Did you make the most of yours?
A number of lovely midsummer birds crossed my path this weekend, but the one that elicited the most delight was an Eastern Bluebird keeping pace with our car as we visited Hamlin Beach State Park up on the lake. Believe it or not, Corey hardly birded at all, but a brief visit to Jamaica Bay on Sunday afternoon did result in an encounter with some Least Terns. How can anyone not like Least Terns?
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.
I don’t often have an exciting best bird, but I have to share this one — a cassowary where cassowaries haven’t been seen for a long, long time.
Three juvenile Comb-crested Jacana.
Oddly I enjoyed my Tui the most this weekend. Not even remotely a rare bird, but sometimes that is okay.
We also observed least terns at the Oceanside Nature Study ,but the bird of the weekend was a Clapper Rail that stayed out in the open on the Marsh grass for what seemed to be 15 minutes. Also a pair of Willets with four chicks on the mud flats chasing alll other birds from the surrounding area.
It’s been unusual season for Veeries (?) for us. We have been hearing them all around our house, and yesterday one flew right up to a sumac by our driveway, and next settled briefly on a rock nearby. http://www.flickr.com/photos/62331787@N06/5827725523/ and http://www.flickr.com/photos/62331787@N06/5827725437/
Haven’t been able to get out much because of the steady rain, but have been watching yard birds feeding on the black oil sunflower seeds I scattered on the porch railing – had to take the birdfeeder down because of a bear. A Red-bellied Woodpecker comes regularly, squats on the railing and opens the seeds sideways lining them up in his beak until it’s full, then flies off to feed his youngsters. Early in the morning is best, before the chipmunks and squirrels wake up and spoil the fun.
Best bird of the weekend was the Common Nighthawk on my back fence! I thought I’d eventually add this as a fly-over yard bird, but to have it on my fence was pretty cool. I got pics too… http://www.birdingisfun.com/2011/06/these-wonderful-birding-days.html
No time for birding this weekend (boo!), though the weather on Sunday was ideal. But here’s the Tree Swallow I ran across Saturday on the shore of Lake Michigan:
http://blog5b.com/2011/06/12/the-weatherman-lied/
I don’t know about you guys, but I relish it when swallows just stay in one place long enough to confirm the ID. To have one park itself and pose for photos was a rare treat!
Easy one. Willow Ptarmigan. In southern Ontario!
Read all about it. It was a great twitch.
http://punkrockbigyear.blogspot.com
My best bird was Black-headed Tody Flycatcher seen at the Nueva Luna Eco Lodge and organic farm near La Fortuna, Costa Rica but I would happily trade that and much more for a Willow Ptarmigan in southern Ontario!
I posted this in the wrong thread so I’m re-posting here edited down a bit.
My best bird of the weekend was a yellow crowned night heron. I was able to watch this beautiful creature swallow a large crab. The heron did this in several stages; holding the wiggling crab in it’s mouth, trying to position it correctly to swallow and then dropping it on the ground several times before finally swallowing it whole.