We’re in the rough part of winter now, the part that seems to keep spring just a fingertip’s length out of reach. I’m not saying winter has been rough, since the season has actually been rather clement. But even one extra day of February keeps us that much farther from our long awaited vernal visitors.

Corey’s  Best Bird of the Weekend was his first Golden-crowned Kinglets of the year. He spotted them on the side of the road in pine trees near the reservoir in Saugerties while visiting his folks. My own weekend was unspectacular from a birding perspective, though I did see an extremely handsome Red-Tailed Hawk, which was a pleasant departure from the usual shaggy brutes brooding along the highway. The last time one of these omnipresent raptors really caught my eye was in Costa Rica back in October; the resident Red-Tailed Hawk exhibits a stunningly colorful morph with substantial rufous along its sides and underwings. If you’re looking for yet another reason to visit Costa Rica, there it is!

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.