Birding and wildlife watching can be, as we all know, a solitary activity. And our practices, though familiar to anyone in our phenologically-attuned culture, can seem strange, sometimes even threatening, to the uninitiated. We receive ample, often poignant reminders of what tragedy can befall those who travel alone among those who don’t recognize their ways or understand their motives. So be careful out there, wherever you roam.

I was quite pleased to encounter the American Black Ducklings pictured above and even more pleased to photograph the fuzzy cuties with my hot, new Galaxy S4. Clearly, I need to learn my way around the phone’s camera function! Corey’s Best Bird of the Weekend was actually a whole flock of birds, the Common Terns at the colony at Nickerson Beach, which he visited on Saturday morning.

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.