Every self-described birder grapples sooner or later with the question of misplaced rarities, namely whether or not to chase them. Weird birds seem to pop up in many parts of the world with an unpredictability that is somewhat predictable. For example, if you live in the southeast United States, you might not be able to predict which Caribbean vagrants will blow in, but you can bet a few tasty ones will make landfall every year. Then you have to decide if you are a chaser. No judgment either way, but don’t forget that birding is supposed to be fun!

Case in point: Corey’s Best Bird of the Weekend was the one he headed out west to meet me for, the first New York record of Garganey! Though the views were distant and the duck was small, the sight of the cute little dabbler (seen in photo with Wood Duck) made the five-hour ride back to New York City much more tolerable! While I was also pleased with spotting this mega, I enjoyed so many other birds of the day more, from new warblers for the year to New York State’s most reliable Sandhill Cranes. Best of the lot for me were the many Black Terns seemingly unimpressed with the celebrity duck in their midst.

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.