This calendar year is slipping away, but we still have plenty of time before the ball drops on December 31 to add more birds to our respective lists. We may not see as many 2016 species as Arjan Dwarshuis (epic!), but happiness is a journey, not a destination, right?

I suffered a deficit of happiness this weekend when my scheduled birding time became subsumed by a rare work emergency. By the time I finally hit the trails, most birds were enjoying their afternoon siestas, leaving me little more to enjoy than Mallards. Corey’s choice for Best Bird of the Weekend was an easy one. After all, Pink-footed Goose is still on the level of continent-level rarity, even if it has become more-than-annual in New York State. The cooperative bird at Hendrickson Park in Nassau County was so easy to twitch that Desi, Corey’s six-year-old son, came along and enjoyed the rarity too!

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.