October is when rumors of the next season become harder to deny. Where I live, the full splendor of fall foliage coupled with initial fingers of frost refutes the notion that summer will return. Fortunately, nature assures that, as one suite of birds leaves, another takes its place.

Even though I had to work most of the weekend, I enjoyed a few striking nature encounters, including an opportunity to observe a Cooper’s Hawk chase a rabbit across an expanse of suburbia. If you were wondering, the rabbit won this encounter. Corey enjoyed some good birding on both Saturday and Sunday mornings. But his Best Bird of the Weekend was one he saw with his family on a visit to Jamaica Bay on Saturday evening. A distant American White Pelican on the East Pond was Corey’s 264th species in Queens this year, which tops his previous best by three species. No, he’s not doing a county big year but he is enjoying finding so many birds in his home borough!

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.

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.