Autumn has now fallen on the Northern Hemisphere, while the season of rejuvenation has sprung all over south of the equator. Grab your bins! We are now in a time of change, a moment of flux during which millions of creatures are on the move. If you haven’t already immersed yourself in the great spectacle of migration, start now! What are your plans this weekend and will you be birding? Share your plans in the comments below.
Corey complains that he’ll be birding locally in Queens, in the rain, if at all. Somehow, I predict he emerges from his den during a break in the clouds and wrangles yet another NYC rarity. If I’m lucky, perhaps I’ll find something out of the ordinary as well. I’ll be birding with students from SUNY Geneseo at the Braddock Bay bird banding station.
Whatever your plans this weekend, make time to enjoy SkyWatch Friday. Also be sure to come back Monday to share your best bird of the weekend!
Dramatic skies over the paramo of the high Andes (where seedsnipe skulk) by James Currie
I’m running a bird photography weekend to Bendigo, central Victoria, Australia. There are about 27 of us involved and we are looking forward to enjoying our best spring for around 10 years following good rains earlier in the year. Eucalypts are flowering well and lots of honeyeaters have been reported. We’re also having a talk Friday from Gary Oliver, a birder who has just spent 12 months travelling around Australia and photographed more than 500 species during this time. Should be a great long weekend!
Awesome scenery.
What a beautiful scene! Love the snowcapped mountain. Gorgeous photo. Happy skywatching and good birding.
I must admit I would return to the High Andes during december-february.
Have been there 5 times on Vacation – from Norway – and love it.
But this year, we will only go to Souther France and to Austin, Texas.
That’s what we have of spear time for travelling this year.
As a Norwegian, I love Mountains – just see my post this Friday Sky Watch;-)
Love the nature on this photo; where is it?
(We know Chile and Argentina Andes)
@TorAa, the photo here was taken in Ecuador, which I highly recommend. You’ll love it there!
The grandeur of mountains is so inspiring! Beautiful photo!
Not much birding for me over the weekend. Oh yeah, by the way … have I mentioned that I’ll depart on a business trip on Sunday afternoon to the Kazakh part of the Altai mountains? No I haven’t? Well, there you go, that’s where I’ll be birding from Monday to Friday! 🙂 🙂
@Jochen: I expect nothing less than excellent pictures of White-browed Tit-Warbler.
You gotta love the scenery in the high Andes! I will be birding somewhere in Costa Rica in search of migrants and more year birds to push me over the 600 species mark by December 31st.
@Corey: Dude, that’s Tien-Shan, not Altai. Is that so difficult?! 🙂
Actually it’s going to be not prime birding time as it is a business trip and my monitoring area is at 500 m above sea level in open mountain steppe. In the Altai mountains, the birds start talking business beyond 1,500 m above sea level and/or the cedar and larch forests. There is a small mountain range 8 kms away from my monitoring site that reaches to 1590 m above sea level, and I might talk our local staff into getting me there for a day for … you know … er … because this would be so important to compare ecologically to the monitoring site, right?
Wonderful view.
Regards and best wishes
Stunning and serene.