Now that American Thanksgiving has passed, we in the States can join the rest of the world in turning our full attention to the upcoming Yule celebration. The impending season of giving can trigger intense anxiety punctuated by bouts of conspicuous consumerism, but you don’t need to succumb to rampant materialism. Why don’t you take the weekend off to focus on some of those finer things in life that are free and go birding? That is assuming, of course, that the pepper spray burns you suffered during a Black Friday shopping frenzy have healed!

I happy to say that Corey and I, after far too long, will be birding together somewhere in the NYC Metro region this weekend. Those of you in the area may prefer to defer your bird watching for the weekend, as I’m sure that the apparently endless stream of vagrants and rarities you’ve become accustomed to will dry up while I’m in town! What are you doing this weekend and will you be birding? Share your plans in the comments below.

Whatever your plans this weekend, make time to enjoy SkyWatch Friday. Also be sure to come back Monday to share your best bird of the weekend!


Can you believe Sharon Stiteler captured this gorgeous sunrise over Israel’s Hula Valley using just an iPhone 4S?

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.