Birding

Best Bird of the Weekend (Third of October 2016)

October 17, 2016 by Mike 7 Comments

This time of year seems full of surprises, often good ones. I was surprised the weather was gorgeous in my area, notorious for early freezes. I was surprised lots of birds that might have left weeks ago were still hanging around. Most of all, I was surprised my consistently underperforming football team actually transcended its limitations and played big. I love a weekend of good surprises 🙂

As mentioned, our exquisite autumn weekend had me out enjoying the warmth and sun, not to mention the birds. I was pleased to note that sharp Common Grackles hadn’t yet entirely vacated Western New York. Since they signal spring for me more accurately than wintering robins, their presence assures me that winter is still far off. Corey’s Best Bird of the Weekend was an easy decision this weekend. A Yellow-billed Cuckoo in mid-October is always a decent bird and when one decides to sit out and enjoy the autumn sun it’s a tough bird to top. Corey loved digiscoping the sunning Yellow-billed Cuckoo above at Jacob Riis Park in Queens on Sunday morning and it was a no doubt 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.

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.