June is coming to an end; have you spend it wisely or squandered the longest (or shortest, depending on your hemisphere) days of the year? More important, have you watched birds battle high above the earth? More on that in a moment. For now, how will you be spending this weekend and is bird watching on the itinerary? Please share your plans in the comments below.

I’ll probably be hanging around Rochester, which could mean pretty slim pickings as far as unusual bird sightings go. Corey and Charlie are usually better situated for enviable avifauna but while Corey will be tearing it up from NYC to Ulster County, Charlie is too busy at home contending with beautiful twins (which is his story to tell, not mine!) to get outdoors.

Whatever your plans this weekend, make time to enjoy SkyWatch Friday

Sometimes, when you skywatch, it’s fun to watch a sky battle. I just returned from a few days down at my mother-in-law’s farm in Potter County. Now that the local birds are breeding and brooding, they’re also battling for territory, food, or just sheer glee and malice. One has to wonder about the motives of the roving gang of Ravens causing all manner of consternation to the local songbirds. It was my pleasure to observe some Eastern Kingbirds, no shrinking violets themselves, repel these ravens from the proximity of their nest. Once the dogfight took to the upper altitudes, I was able to capture this epic avian altercation.


The kingbird engages a much larger raven.


A solid strike!


Can the raven take many more of these?


Discretion is the better part of valor.

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.