I hate to obsess about weather, but June temperatures in New York have taken us all on a roller coaster ride with sweltering highs and frigid lows within days of each other. How am I supposed to enjoy a pre-summer weekend dressed in all these layers?
Despite my disdain for this unseasonable chill, I chased a variety of Rochester rarities this weekend. Alas, I didn’t locate any but found enjoyment in a prolonged standoff between mobbing Red-eyed Vireos and a Blue Jay who refused to take the hint. Corey got out looking for birds at Jamaica Bay on Sunday morning and is he ever glad he did! In addition to a singing Yellow-billed Cuckoo, a Clapper Rail feeding its mate, and a Ruby-throated Hummingbird youngster almost ready to fledge, he enjoyed amazing looks at a Least Bittern. Least Bittern, seen well, will almost always be the best bird you get on an outing and in this case it was easily 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.
Weather has been a challenge in the Tacoma area too, and my best bird was seen from my easy chair, as a Coopers Hawk chased by a crow flew dramatically close to the picture window as it screamed past.
Little Tern
There was a fledgling crow in the bushes in our front yard. (We named it “Corvid-19”.) The parents spent a couple of days swooping around and cawing — we used the back door instead. But the Purolator guy was unfazed, he just said “It’s that time of year.”
Traditionally the crows here in Vancouver are called “Northwestern Crow” but we’re actually in the middle of a huge hybrid zone. They may be called something else next year.
Our fledgling crow had blue eyes, unlike the adults whose eyes look black.
As usual, my “weekend” birding happened on Monday. But the best birds were a pair of Masked Tityras, which were lifers, and my first solo ID of a Yellow-green Vireo (identified at home, when I saw my photos).
Paul, you hadn’t seen Masked Tityras yet? I bet if you spend a bit more time south of your current latitude, you’ll see a lot more. They are incredibly conspicuous in many Central American locales.
Mike, if I could spend more time south of my current latitude… the sky would be the limit! Michoacán’s specialty is its concentration of endemic species specific to southwestern Mexico, but there are actually many more total species in eastern and southeastern Mexico. Those species just don’t count as full endemics because almost all spill over into Central America, the U.S., or both. If I really want to rack up the numbers, I should go to Veracruz and Chiapas state, or Costa Rica. Someday…
Best bird of the weekend for my wife and I was the same species as Corey’s. A Least Bittern! A bird alert chime had us drop everything (preparing lunch and yard work) for a Niagara Region (Ontario) lifer that was only minutes away from our home on Saturday, June 13.
First time back at Pretzel Park in the Roxborough section of Philadelphia since lockdown lifted … and some harsh calls alerted me to one of the resident Peregrine Falcons lighting on a telephone pole with a snack. So cool!