As autumn Passage migration reaches full swing, a lovely collection of birds arrive before travelling to their wintering grounds. Living in a country that is a hub for passage migration, there are many species that stop here.
Currently, I am after the hoopoe which I have seen before but would love to see again, as well as the woodchat shrike. I have been planning a trip and hope to see the elusive sociable lapwing, which is my country’s rarest bird. What are you after this autumn?
If I will get ready to look for birds it’ll be a Snow Bunting or Horned Lark, finding a missing owl will be a great success too, but I have no hope for that.
The yellow-bellied sapsuckers have been elusive for me this year. I missed them in the spring and I haven’t found one this fall either. :/
Later this season, I really want to find Snow Buntings and Lapland Longspurs, but I’ve never had any luck finding them…
Black faced grassquit chicks. I have seen the adults building the nest an getting comfy, but so far, no chicks!
Some early Yellow-rumped Warblers and a couple of Indigo Buntings have been giving me a really tough time. I’m hearing them a lot and they frequent the small island behind my home but my physical disabilities lately have me limited to the backyard for observations.
I want to at least photograph the buntings better before they move on. The warblers will be around for a while obviously and do eventually start frequenting the yard but it’s the fact that they are pretty early this year that has me gunning more for a good photo and not an obscured shot showing just the butt 
I’m looking forward to all the warblers passing through, but especially the Townsend’s Warbler, a species that, while currently common, has eluded me so far.
Pass-through migrants I’m hoping to add to my life list are American Golden Plover, Cerulean Warbler, Golden-winged Warbler, and Canada Warbler. Winter visitors I’m hoping to add to my life list are Red Knot, Bufflehead, Common Goldeneye, American Bittern, Rusty Blackbird, Purple Finch, and Fox Sparrow.
I’m waiting for those northern North American species; any of them! I’m hoping to get evening grosbeaks and pine siskins (a pine grosbeak would be incredible). I have my ear out for owls–snowy, saw-whet, and the like. I’m also hoping for snow bunting and lapland longspur!
As someone who’s getting into birds, I’d like to find any bird that’s not a house sparrow or starling.
Andean Condor
A tad early right now, but in about a month when they return from New Guinea, my main target will be the Buff-Breasted Paradise-Kingfisher.
Tyto ostologa would be nice…
are they attested in your region of observation?
Any!
Though, I really want to see a Mule Duck, a hybrid mixture of Mallards and Muscovies. They can’t breed so there aren’t any feral populations, so my chances of seeing one is slim. I’ll have to wait until one escapes into the wild or is dumped.
I would settle for any waterfowl really.
I’m preparing myself for winter birding. I’ll keep my hopes up for the owls (even though most people where I’m from are quite secretive about where they see them), but I’m mainly hoping to see Snow Bunting because I know there’s a good chance I’ll see them. Other than that I’m hoping to see Pine Grosbeak and the Crossbills, they are always a joy to come across.
Scratch the “in a month” part, local birders are seeing them around already!! I’ll be trying out some spots they’ve been seen at soon!
I currently live in the gulf, so we get a lot of unique birds during the winter. I’m hoping to spot a Pied kingfisher and an Egyptian vulture.
So winters are really looked forward to in the birding community as the weather is cool and we get more than 500 migrating species every year.
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