May brings birds in a big way. Have you seen any good ones? One sure way to heighten the pleasure of a special bird sighting is to brag about it later. Step right up and share your best bird of the weekend.
A vicious cold ruined my weekend but at least my kids and I could enjoy Blue Jays up close and personal through our picture windows. Ivy is turning 4 at the end of the month and is eager to start her life list! Corey has also been sharing birds with his blood. His best bird of the weekend was a Blackburnian Warbler in North Lake State Park in New York’s Catskill Mountains. It was best bird of the weekend not only because multiple singing Blackburnian Warblers on territory are inherently an amazing site, but because both of his parents managed to focus their binoculars on the gorgeous birds. Now that is a family outing!
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.
Mine was a Blue-winged Warbler at Mendon Ponds Park in Mendon, NY. And listening to Laura Kammermeier (of “Birds, Words, and Websites” fame) imitate the sound of this beautiful little bird as we searched for it enhanced the experience that much further. 😉
I was very happy to see the swallow-tailed kite is back. They are a big, beautiful black and white bird that spend summers here in Florida.
@Deb: That is something that I need to hear!
@Aunt Audrey: I really need to visit you down there…
The coolest part of a morning at the little man-made puddle in my town (I hesitate to call it a lake) was tracking a Baltimore oriole by its song, until some 20 minutes later it finally appeared and put on a show for casual passersby. It definitely outsang all the other birds there, including a yellow warbler and a warbling vireo!
For me it was a tie between the Blackburnian and Bay-breasted Warblers, both males in nice breeding plumage showing very well on a beautiful morning in Central Park.
Definitly a yellow-breasted chat, a lifer for me, during a self-propelled big day attempt yesterday. We end up with 116 species, pretty good for the county.
A Scarlet Tanager and an American Redstart, on the same tree. Both lifers for me. I was particularly enamored with the tanager, which I have always wanted to see, and was not expecting to show up in my binoculars while I was trying to identify the Redstart.
Life bird for me…Ruffed Grouse near Banks, Idaho
My best bird this past weekend was the Kirtland’s Warbler at Crane Creek/Magee Marsh (Lake Erie – NW Ohio) Friday evening, May 14. Got lifer Kirtland’s in Michigan about 10 years ago, but it has totally illuded me in Ohio – soooo happy!! (11-year-old granddaughter, Maddie, got it too!)
I added 17 birds to my life list last week (http://birdstack.com/people/thainamu/trips/2852), but the “best” one was a bald eagle. They were all over Vancouver Island and I had never seen one in the wild before.
How awesome that your kids share your passion! That Warbler is gorgeous!
I got a nice collection on Friday (which is our first day of the weekend):
Steppe Buzzards (nice shots of those), Common Kestrels close and beautiful, Europ. Bee-eaters (the closest I ever got) and a gorgeous Purple Heron close up in all his glory 🙂
I love that Golf course 😀
My best bird was also a Blackburnian Warbler, among 10 warblers seen on a walk at the NY Botanical Gardens. Scarlet Tanager is a fairly close second.
http://www.birdersflightlog.blogspot.com
Am still recovering from a 124 (or is it 125? or 126) bird Delmarva trip with the mater and other NYC Audubon folk. Highlights were two yellow billed cuckoos stomping around above us, a summer tanager in plumage transition (Strawberry sherbert into mango sherbert into lemon sherbert into coconut sherbert), and a jaeger (prolly parasitic) off the bow of the Del to NJ ferry.
Luckily, fried as I was, I managed to stagger into Central Park post-work on Monday and got rewarded with a breathtaking Mourning Warbler — a lifer for me.
Easy-peasy no-brainer – Goshawk, Wentwood Forest, Gwent (that’s in Welsh Wales).
Back from Tatama NP, Colombia. 81 lifers!!!, with Toucan-Barbet being the highlight among a long list of rare and beautiful species!