Notes from the weekend

Usually, by now I have posted a weekend wrap-up of whatever birding I had done over the last three days. This past weekend, we really didn't get much birding in - we did put in a quick stop on Plum Island, but there was little of note other than a really nice female Tundra Peregrine with a somewhat unusual light crown. Unfortunately, she was too distant even to digi-scope so no pics at all from the weekend. We really spent more time on getting some Christmas shopping done (and thankfully finished most of it - just a few more people to shop for) . Even though winter is descending upon us, and there is still great birding to be had in New England, there are other things to do too - holiday things (aside from shopping). Last week Pam and I went to the Boston Ballet's production of the Nutcracker, and over the weekend, we went with Paul and Diana to a local theater group's production of "Greetings!" Both of which help to bring on the Christmas spirit.

The next few weekends I'll certainly get my share of birding in - I'll be participating in our local Christmas Bird Count circle this coming weekend and then the weekend after, I'll be doing the Isles of Shoals CBC, which I used to do when I lived in NH but haven't been able to do for the last few years. Cold, windy, and wet, but still I always enjoyed being on a boat full of birders, counting gulls, looking for Snowy Owls flying around the islands, hoping for some good rarity or vagrant.

The other item I was happy to able to accomplish this weekend was finally finding a good location for my team members to lay their heads while in town in January. What team members, you ask?
Well, some time back I posted about Massachusetts Audubon's Superbowl of Birding, an annual birding competition here in Massachusetts, similar to the World Series of Birding. I thought it would be fun to put together a team of birding bloggers to compete, so I sent out a few discreet e-mails to see what kind of response I would get. The responses were very enthusiastic, and although a few wanted to join but just couldn't make it this year, I had a team together in no time at all. So now, it is my distinct pleasure to introduce to you, a group of great birders and bloggers whom I am sure you all already know and love, the other members of
The Bloggerhead Kingbirds:
Patrick from the Hawk Owl's Nest
Corey from 10,000 Birds
Quintus from the Owl Box
Nathan from The Drinking Bird and the Nature Blog Network Blog

So, if you are in eastern Massachusetts on January 24th, and you hear a group of guys yelling "Great Audubon's Ghost!" stop over and say "hi" & wish us luck - but don't expect us to stick around for long, we have a contest to win!