Birding

Best Bird of the Weekend (Second Weekend of 2012)

January 9, 2012 by Mike 17 Comments

Just two weekends into 2012, I already love this year. No doubt the weather has something to do with it; Rochester, NY may historically be one of the United States’ snowiest metropolitan areas, but we’ve been basking in almost vernal weather. Plus my New York Football Giants just advanced in the first round of the NFL playoffs. Sure, I’m likely omitting some other far more important factors involving family, friends, and professional success, but the little things mean a lot. Don’t you agree?

As promised, I watched Falcons get plucked, pinioned, and debeaked this weekend. Note that I only condone this treatment for the highly localized Atlanta Falcon. But since these sorry birds are giving avifauna a bad name, I should mention the sleek Cooper’s Hawk I spotted at Turning Point Park. Corey’s newest gaudy vagrant and Best Bird of the Weekend™ was a Barnacle Goose in Eastport, Suffolk County, Long Island. Not a bad bird at all!

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.

best bird weekend

Written by Mike

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.

17 Comments

Clare and Grant-Broome Western Australia January 9, 2012 at 2:59 am
2nd week of 2011? 🙂
Jochen January 9, 2012 at 4:32 am
I saw the famous free-flying escape Great White Pelican “Quax” at Mannheim’s Luisenpark.
This bird appeared in Germany in March 2009 and has been seen in southern Germany, Switzerland and France since then, before “settling down” (still free-flying and moving around a bit) in a small zoo north of Mannheim recently.
For those who can understand German:
http://www.lbv.de/artenschutz/voegel/pelikan-quaks-quax.html
Clare and Grant-Broome Western Australia January 9, 2012 at 4:36 am
@ Jochen-can you put this on your 2012 list? Is it number 14? 🙂
Jochen January 9, 2012 at 4:45 am
@Clare:
Nope and nope. My list now stands at a whooping and glorious 40 species.
Clare and Grant-Broome Western Australia January 9, 2012 at 4:56 am
@ Jochen-our list is at 128, but we are a few hours ahead of you and it’s almost too dark to bird now as dull and raining! The race is on!! 🙂
Jochen January 9, 2012 at 5:01 am
@Clare: careful there, I have business trips coming up this year to Indonesia and possibly central Africa and Kazakhstan.
Don’t mess with me in 2012! 🙂
Clare and Grant-Broome Western Australia January 9, 2012 at 5:05 am
@ Jochen-so your list is anywhere? Just so I can start to look at a holiday to optimise our chances of winning! We need to beat Corey! 🙂
Duncan January 9, 2012 at 5:17 am
My list is at 160. My best bird of the week was the Platypus! Wait what? It has a bull and lays eggs, right? Okay, seriously, Southern Cassowary. Details will follow on my post this week.
Clare and Grant-Broome Western Australia January 9, 2012 at 5:35 am
OK, ours is Owlet Nightjar in broad daylight and it will be in my post this week! Well done Duncan! So all the Beatwriters have a list this year!? Are there rules? 🙂
Jochen January 9, 2012 at 6:07 am
@Clare and Duncan: What!? Southern Cassowary? Owlet Nightjar?
Just you wait, my friends, just you wait!! 🙂
Sean Paul Kelley January 9, 2012 at 6:51 am
My absolute favorite for this weekend was the Whooping Crane: http://www.flickr.com/photos/seanpaulkelley/6655534025/in/photostream We have six wintering in Central Texas at a place called Granger Lake. I was exceptionally lucky to get a good overflight and could inspect them quite well with the binocs!
Jochen January 9, 2012 at 8:35 am
@Clare: yepp, my list is anywhere – I count every wild bird species I see in 2012, no matter where. And Corey’s done for. I doesn’t stand a chance.
Mike January 9, 2012 at 8:42 am
Wow, this post is definitely where the action is. I’m used to Clare, Jochen, and Duncan taunting me with droolworthy birds (along with the odd Platypus) but Sean name-dropping the Whooping Crane stings just as much.
I love the idea that the Beat Writers are having a year list competition. Do any of you want to keep your year lists on the site so that Corey can see on a daily basis how thoroughly you’re stomping him?
And nice catch, Clare. Guess I was feeling nostalgic for last year. Sure it won’t be the last time I make that mistake!
Eva January 9, 2012 at 9:47 am
Best bird of the weekend was the Vermilion Flycatcher seen outside Everglades National Park. Close second, 4 Scissor-tailed Flycatchers a few miles away.
Corey January 9, 2012 at 5:01 pm
That’s it. I have to book some foreign travel this year.
Mom January 9, 2012 at 8:05 pm
So when are we going Puerto Rico?
Lindsey January 9, 2012 at 8:14 pm
I didn’t go birding this past weekend, but I did yesterday and today. Best bird? Short-eared Owls, two of them, both days! I watched them hunt, heard them call to each other, and watched one of them go after a hunting male Northern Harrier! Oh, and it was a life bird for me.