The month of March gets great press for ending more placidly than it begins. Why isn’t October acknowledged, at least in the temperate zones above the equator, for coming in like a lamb but going out like a lion? Perhaps we’re too distracted by all that Halloween candy. What does this rather random point have to do with this coming weekend? Not much at all. What are you doing this weekend and will you be watching birds? Comment below on the excitement you have planned!
Based on the levy of leaves dropping daily on my front lawn, I’ll probably be raking most of this weekend. Corey will be hitting the old standbys, Jamaica Bay and Forest Park. Charlie may actually be birding in Britain but I’ll believe that when I see it!
Regardless of how you plan to celebrate the beginning of a new season, be sure to celebrate Sky Watch Friday…
Keep an eye out for migrating raptors, like this Juvenile Pallid Harrier.
(And check out the rest of Charlie’s phenomenal photos of Kuwaiti wildlife!)
Beautiful capture… wonderful blue skies… the flight. Awesome power.
This is a wonderful shot, Mike. You always amaze me.
I’m going to Cape May, NJ. I might get some birding in. Are there any “hot spots” in that area? 🙂
Sandy, you have to give Charlie the credit for that shot (and so many of our best skywatch photos!)
Paul, I gather from your emoticon that you recognize that Cape May is basically one giant birding hotspot!
Excellent shot. Happy SWF!
What a magnificent shot.
Great shot, beautiful bird & sky!! Happy SWF.
I’m hoping to get to Fire Island and bird at the Otis Pike National Wilderness Area. Its the only nationally designated wilderness area in New York State. The marshes, beach, dunes and maritime forest are great to visit and bird.
http://www.nps.gov/fiis/planyourvisit/fireislandwilderness.htm
It can also be reached by public transportation from NYC, and my anti-global warming list is 217 and counting. Ferries stop for the season on Columbus day, so I’m planning to go this weekend.
Beautiful Harrier. Great blue sky!
What a great looking bird…and so healthy looking.. the feathers are just perfect..
beautiful bird!! How did you get this awesome photo?? wow!!
The sky look so blue that the bird must be enjoying fully!!
Congratulations!! I wish I have this photo in my wall…
What a great shot! Thanks for sharing.
We are going to Guindy National Park, close to home, for a walk on Sunday…. Sometimes you see no birds, but its still enjoyable, just to be out there.
I live in Puerto Rico so in October, with the university in full swing, it’s impossible for me to escape. Tomorrow I’ll be visiting the southwest part of the island to have a look at the shorebirds currently visiting the Cabo Rojo Salt Flats, a potential Western Hemisphere Shorebird reserve. I know it’s going to be great.
I’ll be birding down in Miami-Dade county this weekend looking for thrushes and such. Migration has really picked up this week. At my 100 acre wetland I had a 10 warbler species day.
AWESOME photo!
Beautiful migrating bird.
Terrific capture with so much light underneath!
No birding for me, alas.
Kudos to Charlie for a great photo.
headed to cape may, nj, to try to see the mississipi kite that has been seen there this past week.
I went to Fort Tilden today and I saw my highest number of species of raptors and individual raptors. When I first got to the park there were tons of warblers in fall plumage. IDing fall warblers is hard, but I have the new Peterson’s guide with the section on fall warblers to help.
Thanks to the people at 10,000 birds and the publisher for the great book, I got it yesterday!
Nice shot, but I think it’s a juvenile montagu’s harrier. It has dark trailing edge in the hand, largely dark fingers, lots of white in the face and it lacks a distinct white collar, all features of montagu’s. I found the photo through google’s image search and just decided to comment.