Mid-September conjures up visions of migrating shorebirds, songbirds, and waterfowl all joining together under ideal natural lighting for one perfect moment of birding. Sometimes, that even happens. At other times, unfortunately, September can make you feel like all those birds did meet, but nobody invited you along. How’s mid-September treating you so far?

Ivy and I missed all those rare shorebirds that have been hanging out along Lake Ontario, but at least we picked up her first Bonaparte’s Gulls. Corey thoroughly enjoyed birding around Queens on both Saturday and Sunday mornings, hitting some of his favorite hotspots and leading a New York City Audubon Society trip at the Queens Botanical Garden. His Best Bird of the Weekend would have been the Western Kingbird he found out in the Rockaways but, always conscious of the need for a photo for this blog post he chose instead to honor the Whimbrel he found on the beach the same morning, only his third Whimbrel sighting in Queens in the decade plus he’s lived there.

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.