Mid-December is rarely boring for anyone with lots of holiday shopping to do, but birders are as busy this time of year as anyone not working a cash register, ringing a bell, or wearing a Santa costume. How did your Christmas Bird Count go this weekend?
Since I hate the bitter cold and snow afflicting my region, I stayed in as much as I could this weekend. However, I did learn that the Carolina Wren that raises a family in my yard during warm months decided, perhaps unwisely, to stick around for the holidays; I hope my garage is providing enough cover! Corey’s Best Bird of the Weekend was a Wilson’s Snipe he flushed at Edgemere Landfill in Queens during the Christmas Bird Count. It ended up being the only one on the count: a lucky save and easily his BBOTW.
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.
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Here in Northwest Philadelphia, our CBC was canceled because of the weather, which was fairly inhospitable all weekend. But my best wildlife (if not bird) sighting was one of our local Red Foxes, glimpsed dashing across the snowy road before dawn while I drove my husband to the train station. First time seeing one in over a year, and thrilled that he got to see it too!
Here on the Olympic Peninsula, I was afraid to drive on the snow, so missed our CBC. I stayed home and put some suet out on top of the snow. I had always thought Dark-eyed Juncos were a peaceful little flock on the ground. About eight of them jockeyed for position beside the suet. I was really surprised how aggressively they acted towards each other to keep each other away.