Pretty much all over the world, birds are on the move and if you live in the Northern Hemisphere, you’ll never see better looking songbirds than right now. So where are you going birding this weekend? Comment below on the excitement you have planned.
A quorum of the 10,000 Birds team will be visiting upstate New York, which means we’ll be crossing the Westchester county line. I’ll be doing a lot of highway birding back and forth to Rochester while Corey and Will are planning a Century Run-style Albany extravaganza. If I don’t miss my guess, Charlie will be kicking around Cape Town or someplace preposterous like that.
Whether I’ll be birding or not, I really enjoy hearing about people’s plans to get outside and experience nature. I suspect many of you might feel the same, or at least appreciate the opportunity to gloat. Consequently, I’d like to make Where Are You Birding This Weekend? a recurring question. Since this question makes the most sense at the end of the traditional workweek, it dovetails nicely with a cool new community activity called Sky Watch Friday, hosted graciously over at Wiggers World. Bird watch or sky watch, it’s what we do!
What a beauty, welcome to skywatch!
Around home before work on Sat. Out in the western part of the state Sunday. Then back home to head to the other side of the state for a pelagic on Tuesday.
I’m busy this week. I hope the birds cooperate. ; )
Great blog.
Congratulations.
Guess I will be birding in my own backyard since I just set up a feeder! However, Dallas County, Alabama, is a migratory flyway, and there are plenty of birds to be seen west of Selma in the Black Belt. I believe there are now some published birding guides.
Nice shot of the red wing blackbird. We have some of them around here which are nice to see and I am especially fond of the Eastern Meadowlarks.
I had good intentions of going to listen for rails and bitterns this evening at the Great Swamp followed by Mexican food. The weather isn’t cooperating though. I also have to conduct my grasslands surveys this weekend if I can find my darn maps from last year! That’s about all the birding I’ll be doing. I have two afternoon parties to go to this weekend too.
The long weekend in May is traditional Fish Derby weekend up here but unfortunately while Leah and Travis will be heading about 10 hours south by snowmobile to a place called Toolookak (after the Ravens) Hilary and I are stuck at home. We’ll probably bird watch around home, checking to see if Larus thayerii has arrived, and see what else has shown up. But I am planning a trip to the Floe Edge in a couple of weeks time, if no clients book in, for some species that don’t show up around town.
Welcome to Skywatch. Great shot of a red-winged blackbird! I’ll be watching birds in the desert this weekend and participating in an IBA survey on Wednesday at Sabino Canyon.
Great photos.
I don’t really have special plans for this weekend … tomorrow morning will start with another 90 minute sweat and pain session in the gym … then some blogging … buy the newspapers … and sunday will be dedicated to see the Portugal Cup Final (soccer) since my favourite team will be there playing …
I’ll be birding (or as my family likes to call it “camping”) on the Mendocino coast in Northern California. I’ve never been there (as an adult) and I can’t wait! I’m sure the birds will be VERY different than mine here along the Santa Cruz coast in Central California (not!) — still, it’s birding!
Hi Mike
Not sure if this is your first Sky Watch or not.. I’m just glad it sounds like it will not be your last.. I welcome you to tag along with Sky Watch as many of the other bloggers will get a kick out of your pictures for sure.
I hope you have a great weekend… as for mine this week… it baby sitting my wee grand daughter… weekend don’t get much better than that… for me;o)
As for bird and wild life watch I do that during the week when all is quiet and I have the woods and hedgerows to myself.
My wife and I are going to hit up Big Morongo, an oasis in the Mojave Desert near Joshua Tree, if we can fight through newly besetting colds.
There’s also a Scissor-tailed Flycatcher near there that we’ll twitch. If we’re not dead or dying from heat and our diseases at that point, I’m hoping to make a stop-off at a waterfall in the evening on the way home to L.A. for Black Swifts.
I am a beginner birder and my partner was interested in me taking her out for the first time somewhere local – NYC. Is Forest Park a good idea for this weekend? I’ve been to Prospect and Central Parks and Jamaica Bay. Thanks.
I think this is an outstanding photo of the red-winged blackbird.
I’ll be busy trying to break my previous big day record in the Capital District area of New York.
Which begs the question, Corey, what is our record?
The all-time record around Albany is somewhere near 160 species.
I know we average around 120, but who knows what this year will bring.
Thank you for letting me find you !! Because so many pretty birds in your blog. This blog I want to show to my father, because he love birds and is a bird watcher too.
Nice pretty example for this friday also. Never seen anything like it in my side of the world.
Nice weeknd wishes to you, comes here from Norway.
Man, I am pysched to hear from so many people representing so many parts of the world, especially those of you who haven’t commented before. Welcome and be sure to come back and share your plans next Friday. You’re right, Tom, this is our first Sky Watch Friday but it won’t be our last.
amt230, now that I’ve visited Forest Park, I can assure you that any weekend in spring is a good weekend to visit. Sounds like you’ve already hit most of the obligatory hotspots so check Forest Park out. Just be sure to find some guidance to the waterhole.
amazing image, fantastic.
Nice shot!
You have an amazing web site here, Mike. I linked to you from Sky Watch Friday at Wiggers World. I’ll be back later for a closer look. Corey’s photo of the redwing blackbird is marvelous. We have lots of them here in Arkansas, especially in our rice growing counties, but I can’t say that I’ve ever seen one at this close range. I think they are beautiful birds. I love to see them sort of weaving on the breeze while hanging onto cattail stems, and to listen to their songs. Hope to see you back next week on Sky Watch Friday.
Hi Mike, glad to have you on board with SW.
Such a great photo, love the Action.
pop and see my reflections.
A very nice photo>
Thanks. Although birding is much more difficult without someone more experienced along with you, I managed to have some great up-close-and-personal time with a scarlet tanager and some yellow-rumps that were feeding on some insects (?) in the sun rays at the railroad tracks. And I think I converted the first-timer I brought along with me. Forest Park is a beautiful place, too!
You have a very beautiful website. I’ll be babysitting my granddaughter this weekend. I love birds, too. My granddaughter can’t talk yet but she does say “ba” for birds.