One downside to birding in autumn–certainly not the only one–is how almost everything you see heading south is something you caught earlier in the year heading north. Another downside is how drab many of these migrants are relative to their spring appearances. However, one major upside, assuming you take advantage of what October has to offer, is a cup of something pumpkin-spice flavored to warm you up after a cold day in the field. Not that I’d know anything about that…

On a gorgeous day at Niagara Falls, I basically encountered 100 Double-crested Cormorants and 500 Ring-billed Gulls, so the cormorants win best bird honors for relative rarity. Corey’s Best Bird of the Weekend was any of the three Royal Terns flying past Fort Tilden during the weather-shortened Queens County Bird Club Big Sit. The weather was horrific and the birds had more sense than the birders which they showed by mostly staying under cover.

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.