A male bobolink perches in a small tree and overlooks the fields at Happy Landings in Brookfield, CT.
My latest For the Birds column releases my personal top 10 birding moments for 2018. Recapping the previous year is my favorite column to write each late December or early January. This year, instead of blasting out the top 10 all at once I’m going to spread it out and reveal two each day, starting today (Jan. 1, 2019.) This post will include Nos. 10 and 9.
Feel free to comment or send me an email with some of your 2018 birding or nature highlights.
10. Bobolinks at preserve. Happy Landings is a huge, protected field in Brookfield, Connecticut, where bobolinks thrive. Fields and meadows are a critical and disappearing habitat so it’s nice to see some still exist and are maintained for the wildlife that depend on them.
A luna moth clings to a screen in Danbury, Conn., during spring 2018.
9. Visit from a luna moth. May brought several bird surprises to my yard, but also a visit from another interesting creature. I went to refill the bird feeders one day and noticed a luna moth clinging to a screen. I’ve seen the large green moth only a few times previously. It hung around all day and was gone the next morning.
Birds of New England.com 
Happy New Year Chris
My best birding day of 2018 was December 17. I went down to The Pond at the bottom of Central Park & saw the celebrity Mandarin Duck standing on a rock above a crowd of mallards, as though relishing his Photo Op. He’s as colorful & improbably perfect as photos show. I also saw a handsome Wood Duck in the crowd, & a small black coot.
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