December is a special month occupied almost entirely for most people by holiday preparation, shopping, and celebration. December makes for some great birding too, whether you have been anxiously awaiting the arrival of a new season’s suite of birds or you use the end of the calendar year as an excuse to travel in search of something new. Either way, we should all endeavor to end the year on a high note.

I braved the cold in search of a new bird for my county list but encountered very few birds even where they are usually profuse. The only birds that really turned out in force were Mute Swans, so they earn dubious top honors. Corey had it even worse during a relatively slow weekend of birding. You might have been able to guess that from the photo up top, of a House Sparrow, Corey’s Best Bird of the Weekend. It is a very nice House Sparrow, I guess.

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.