Birding

Best Bird of the Weekend (Third of May 2014)

May 19, 2014 by Mike 3 Comments

We birders seem to keep our own arcane calendar, with weeks and months symbolized not by numbers but rather by avian avatars. Each phenological totem evokes the confluence of time, climate, and geography that tells a richer story of a place than simply its position relative to the sun. Most North American birders I know would definitely represent the month of May with a bright and sprightly wood-warbler, though the argument about which bird would best serve would be epic indeed. What birds, I wonder, would you select to fill out your birding calendar? What is your bird of the moment?

While warblers are always on my mind when I search the woods for Neotropical migrants, vireos seem to attract my deeper interest. I pulled a few colorful songbirds while birding this weekend, but thought the abundant Red-eyed Vireos best captured the tenor of the moment. Though Corey managed to see or hear 135 species this weekend including such good birds as Yellow-bellied Flycatcher, Piping Plover, Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Kentucky Warbler, Bay-breasted Warbler, and a host of others, his Best Bird of the Weekend was a commonly seen bird, albeit a very cooperative one. What’s not to like about a Canada Warbler that is practically begging to be photographed?

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.

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.