Just two weekends into 2012, I already love this year. No doubt the weather has something to do with it; Rochester, NY may historically be one of the United States’ snowiest metropolitan areas, but we’ve been basking in almost vernal weather. Plus my New York Football Giants just advanced in the first round of the NFL playoffs. Sure, I’m likely omitting some other far more important factors involving family, friends, and professional success, but the little things mean a lot. Don’t you agree?

As promised, I watched Falcons get plucked, pinioned, and debeaked this weekend. Note that I only condone this treatment for the highly localized Atlanta Falcon. But since these sorry birds are giving avifauna a bad name, I should mention the sleek Cooper’s Hawk I spotted at Turning Point Park. Corey’s newest gaudy vagrant and Best Bird of the Weekend™ was a Barnacle Goose in Eastport, Suffolk County, Long Island.  Not a bad bird at all!

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.