Varied Thrush
Thank you to the group of expert birders who tried to relocate the varied thrush I saw at Hammonasset today. I saw it around noon in the grass under a cedar along the road, north side, about halfway between the roundabout and the Nature Center -- heavy cedars on both sides of the road for at least 100'.
It was very clearly a varied thrush - orange eyebrow, orange throat with black band beneath and then fading orange on lower breast, orange wingbars. I thought it was a robin from shape and size before getting my bins on it and then was shocked. I had pulled over -- no place to really stop but I stopped anyway -- because of the number of birds I saw flitting around in the cedars and flying across the road. It seemed very skittish, hiding under the cedar tree and moving quickly into the grass and back again when I saw it. Then a loud vehicle came through from the other direction and spooked all the birds. It flew into the cedars and I could not find it again. I stayed for at least 20 minutes, maybe a lot longer...
There were many yellow-rumps and tons of robins. Eventually something came through and put up all the robins and they few away en masse -- I estimated about 120. At least 20 yellow rumps, maybe a lot more.
It's a tough place to see birds since the cedars are very dense and you're right on the road without a sidewalk.
Wish I could be more helpful -- I do hope someone else finds it! I was delighted for even such a short view.
Sarah Faulkner
Collinsville
Hi All – I was alerted to Sarah’s eBird report by Hammo specialist Micky Komara and I was on-site and looking within 15 minutes - this would be a lifer for me, so I wasted no time getting out the door!
I was joined by Micky, Julian Hough, John Oshlick, Russ Smiley and Paul Desjardins. Some looked for a while and had to leave, but after 2+ hours no one found the bird. There was a lot of activity with Robins, Yellow-rumped Warblers and Starlings…and there was a Sharp-shinned Hawk hunting and causing a lot of commotion. At one point I heard what I thought was a Hermit Thrush but I have since learned that the Varied Thrush has a similar call, so perhaps that was him…maybe!
To clarify on the location, there is a very dense cedar stand on both sides of the road just past the East Beach parking area as you head out to Meig’s Point. The cedars on both sides are before the pull-off ahead on the right. Looking on the map, the point where Sarah saw the bird is approximately at 41.257509, -72.552345, the north side of the road. It is a VERY tough place to look because there is a lot of snow, the cedars are very dense and there are a lot of cars and no place for people, unless you’re standing in the snow.
Best bet is to park at the East Beach lot and wear tall boots to walk the snow.
I will likely try again for a while tomorrow AM but I also learned that this species is a skulker so it’s probably a long shot.
Fingers crossed!
Chuck Imbergamo
CT Birds Moderator
Madison
From: SARAH FAULKNER
Sent: Monday, January 31, 2022 9:45 PM
To: ctbirds
Subject: [CT Birds] Varied Thrush
Thank you to the group of expert birders who tried to relocate the varied thrush I saw at Hammonasset today. I saw it around noon in the grass under a cedar along the road, north side, about halfway between the roundabout and the Nature Center -- heavy cedars on both sides of the road for at least 100'.
It was very clearly a varied thrush - orange eyebrow, orange throat with black band beneath and then fading orange on lower breast, orange wingbars. I thought it was a robin from shape and size before getting my bins on it and then was shocked. I had pulled over -- no place to really stop but I stopped anyway -- because of the number of birds I saw flitting around in the cedars and flying across the road. It seemed very skittish, hiding under the cedar tree and moving quickly into the grass and back again when I saw it. Then a loud vehicle came through from the other direction and spooked all the birds. It flew into the cedars and I could not find it again. I stayed for at least 20 minutes, maybe a lot longer...
There were many yellow-rumps and tons of robins. Eventually something came through and put up all the robins and they few away en masse -- I estimated about 120. At least 20 yellow rumps, maybe a lot more.
It's a tough place to see birds since the cedars are very dense and you're right on the road without a sidewalk.
Wish I could be more helpful -- I do hope someone else finds it! I was delighted for even such a short view.
Sarah Faulkner
Collinsville
CTBirds, a service of Connecticut Ornithological Association - Bringing birders together statewide. Please support COA: https://www.ctbirding.org/join-us/
CTBirds is for the discussion of birds and birding in Connecticut. For list rules and subscription information visit: https://www.ctbirding.org/birds-birding/ct-birds-email-list/
Curious what the point of this listserve is if this many birders are alerted to a mega rarity and it’s not reported on here. Did I miss a message?
I’m guessing many others would have left the house in 15 minutes to look for this bird.
On Jan 31, 2022, at 10:52 PM, Chuck Imbergamo imbercj@comcast.net wrote:
Hi All – I was alerted to Sarah’s eBird report by Hammo specialist Micky Komara and I was on-site and looking within 15 minutes - this would be a lifer for me, so I wasted no time getting out the door!
I was joined by Micky, Julian Hough, John Oshlick, Russ Smiley and Paul Desjardins. Some looked for a while and had to leave, but after 2+ hours no one found the bird. There was a lot of activity with Robins, Yellow-rumped Warblers and Starlings…and there was a Sharp-shinned Hawk hunting and causing a lot of commotion. At one point I heard what I thought was a Hermit Thrush but I have since learned that the Varied Thrush has a similar call, so perhaps that was him…maybe!
To clarify on the location, there is a very dense cedar stand on both sides of the road just past the East Beach parking area as you head out to Meig’s Point. The cedars on both sides are before the pull-off ahead on the right. Looking on the map, the point where Sarah saw the bird is approximately at 41.257509, -72.552345, the north side of the road. It is a VERY tough place to look because there is a lot of snow, the cedars are very dense and there are a lot of cars and no place for people, unless you’re standing in the snow.
Best bet is to park at the East Beach lot and wear tall boots to walk the snow.
I will likely try again for a while tomorrow AM but I also learned that this species is a skulker so it’s probably a long shot.
Fingers crossed!
Chuck Imbergamo
CT Birds Moderator
Madison
From: SARAH FAULKNER
Sent: Monday, January 31, 2022 9:45 PM
To: ctbirds
Subject: [CT Birds] Varied Thrush
Thank you to the group of expert birders who tried to relocate the varied thrush I saw at Hammonasset today. I saw it around noon in the grass under a cedar along the road, north side, about halfway between the roundabout and the Nature Center -- heavy cedars on both sides of the road for at least 100'.
It was very clearly a varied thrush - orange eyebrow, orange throat with black band beneath and then fading orange on lower breast, orange wingbars. I thought it was a robin from shape and size before getting my bins on it and then was shocked. I had pulled over -- no place to really stop but I stopped anyway -- because of the number of birds I saw flitting around in the cedars and flying across the road. It seemed very skittish, hiding under the cedar tree and moving quickly into the grass and back again when I saw it. Then a loud vehicle came through from the other direction and spooked all the birds. It flew into the cedars and I could not find it again. I stayed for at least 20 minutes, maybe a lot longer...
There were many yellow-rumps and tons of robins. Eventually something came through and put up all the robins and they few away en masse -- I estimated about 120. At least 20 yellow rumps, maybe a lot more.
It's a tough place to see birds since the cedars are very dense and you're right on the road without a sidewalk.
Wish I could be more helpful -- I do hope someone else finds it! I was delighted for even such a short view.
Sarah Faulkner
Collinsville
CTBirds, a service of Connecticut Ornithological Association - Bringing birders together statewide. Please support COA: https://www.ctbirding.org/join-us/
CTBirds is for the discussion of birds and birding in Connecticut. For list rules and subscription information visit: https://www.ctbirding.org/birds-birding/ct-birds-email-list/
CTBirds, a service of Connecticut Ornithological Association - Bringing birders together statewide. Please support COA: https://www.ctbirding.org/join-us/
CTBirds is for the discussion of birds and birding in Connecticut. For list rules and subscription information visit: https://www.ctbirding.org/birds-birding/ct-birds-email-list/
Hi Andrew – Those of us looking found out because of eBird and the Rare Bird Alert function. You can sign up for them on eBird; depending on your settings they can come to you as emails rather quickly, which is why we headed to Hammo so fast.
I didn’t post about our search on the list because at the time I didn’t know if the person who saw it was certain, and I didn’t want to create excitement for a bird we hadn’t actually seen and that was only a second-hand report.
And to be honest, this will be a tough one to find. The words ‘needle in a haystack’ were spoken many times today.
Maybe see you tomorrow – this would be a good needle to find!
Chuck Imbergamo
CT Birds Moderator
Madison
From: Andrew MacDonald
Sent: Monday, January 31, 2022 11:14 PM
To: Chuck Imbergamo
Cc: SARAH FAULKNER; ctbirds
Subject: Re: [CT Birds] Re: Varied Thrush
Curious what the point of this listserve is if this many birders are alerted to a mega rarity and it’s not reported on here. Did I miss a message?
I’m guessing many others would have left the house in 15 minutes to look for this bird.
On Jan 31, 2022, at 10:52 PM, Chuck Imbergamo imbercj@comcast.net wrote:
Hi All – I was alerted to Sarah’s eBird report by Hammo specialist Micky Komara and I was on-site and looking within 15 minutes - this would be a lifer for me, so I wasted no time getting out the door!
I was joined by Micky, Julian Hough, John Oshlick, Russ Smiley and Paul Desjardins. Some looked for a while and had to leave, but after 2+ hours no one found the bird. There was a lot of activity with Robins, Yellow-rumped Warblers and Starlings…and there was a Sharp-shinned Hawk hunting and causing a lot of commotion. At one point I heard what I thought was a Hermit Thrush but I have since learned that the Varied Thrush has a similar call, so perhaps that was him…maybe!
To clarify on the location, there is a very dense cedar stand on both sides of the road just past the East Beach parking area as you head out to Meig’s Point. The cedars on both sides are before the pull-off ahead on the right. Looking on the map, the point where Sarah saw the bird is approximately at 41.257509, -72.552345, the north side of the road. It is a VERY tough place to look because there is a lot of snow, the cedars are very dense and there are a lot of cars and no place for people, unless you’re standing in the snow.
Best bet is to park at the East Beach lot and wear tall boots to walk the snow.
I will likely try again for a while tomorrow AM but I also learned that this species is a skulker so it’s probably a long shot.
Fingers crossed!
Chuck Imbergamo
CT Birds Moderator
Madison
From: SARAH FAULKNER
Sent: Monday, January 31, 2022 9:45 PM
To: ctbirds
Subject: [CT Birds] Varied Thrush
Thank you to the group of expert birders who tried to relocate the varied thrush I saw at Hammonasset today. I saw it around noon in the grass under a cedar along the road, north side, about halfway between the roundabout and the Nature Center -- heavy cedars on both sides of the road for at least 100'.
It was very clearly a varied thrush - orange eyebrow, orange throat with black band beneath and then fading orange on lower breast, orange wingbars. I thought it was a robin from shape and size before getting my bins on it and then was shocked. I had pulled over -- no place to really stop but I stopped anyway -- because of the number of birds I saw flitting around in the cedars and flying across the road. It seemed very skittish, hiding under the cedar tree and moving quickly into the grass and back again when I saw it. Then a loud vehicle came through from the other direction and spooked all the birds. It flew into the cedars and I could not find it again. I stayed for at least 20 minutes, maybe a lot longer...
There were many yellow-rumps and tons of robins. Eventually something came through and put up all the robins and they few away en masse -- I estimated about 120. At least 20 yellow rumps, maybe a lot more.
It's a tough place to see birds since the cedars are very dense and you're right on the road without a sidewalk.
Wish I could be more helpful -- I do hope someone else finds it! I was delighted for even such a short view.
Sarah Faulkner
Collinsville
CTBirds, a service of Connecticut Ornithological Association - Bringing birders together statewide. Please support COA: https://www.ctbirding.org/join-us/
CTBirds is for the discussion of birds and birding in Connecticut. For list rules and subscription information visit: https://www.ctbirding.org/birds-birding/ct-birds-email-list/
CTBirds, a service of Connecticut Ornithological Association - Bringing birders together statewide. Please support COA: https://www.ctbirding.org/join-us/
CTBirds is for the discussion of birds and birding in Connecticut. For list rules and subscription information visit: https://www.ctbirding.org/birds-birding/ct-birds-email-list/
Andrew,
This day and age, with so many options for people to report birds, no method is 100% comprehensive. Stuff falls through the cracks all the time on all services. It is unfortunately the nature of the beast these days. This listserv remains one of the very best ways to find out about rare birds in CT, but again, it doesn’t get everything. There is no longer a single central location for bird reports, which of course is frustrating.
Nick Bonomo
Wallingford, CT
www.shorebirder.com
Sent from my iPhone
On Jan 31, 2022, at 11:15 PM, Andrew MacDonald andrew.macdonald.ns@gmail.com wrote:
Curious what the point of this listserve is if this many birders are alerted to a mega rarity and it’s not reported on here. Did I miss a message?
I’m guessing many others would have left the house in 15 minutes to look for this bird.
On Jan 31, 2022, at 10:52 PM, Chuck Imbergamo imbercj@comcast.net wrote:
Hi All – I was alerted to Sarah’s eBird report by Hammo specialist Micky Komara and I was on-site and looking within 15 minutes - this would be a lifer for me, so I wasted no time getting out the door!
I was joined by Micky, Julian Hough, John Oshlick, Russ Smiley and Paul Desjardins. Some looked for a while and had to leave, but after 2+ hours no one found the bird. There was a lot of activity with Robins, Yellow-rumped Warblers and Starlings…and there was a Sharp-shinned Hawk hunting and causing a lot of commotion. At one point I heard what I thought was a Hermit Thrush but I have since learned that the Varied Thrush has a similar call, so perhaps that was him…maybe!
To clarify on the location, there is a very dense cedar stand on both sides of the road just past the East Beach parking area as you head out to Meig’s Point. The cedars on both sides are before the pull-off ahead on the right. Looking on the map, the point where Sarah saw the bird is approximately at 41.257509, -72.552345, the north side of the road. It is a VERY tough place to look because there is a lot of snow, the cedars are very dense and there are a lot of cars and no place for people, unless you’re standing in the snow.
Best bet is to park at the East Beach lot and wear tall boots to walk the snow.
I will likely try again for a while tomorrow AM but I also learned that this species is a skulker so it’s probably a long shot.
Fingers crossed!
Chuck Imbergamo
CT Birds Moderator
MadisonFrom: SARAH FAULKNER
Sent: Monday, January 31, 2022 9:45 PM
To: ctbirds
Subject: [CT Birds] Varied ThrushThank you to the group of expert birders who tried to relocate the varied thrush I saw at Hammonasset today. I saw it around noon in the grass under a cedar along the road, north side, about halfway between the roundabout and the Nature Center -- heavy cedars on both sides of the road for at least 100'.
It was very clearly a varied thrush - orange eyebrow, orange throat with black band beneath and then fading orange on lower breast, orange wingbars. I thought it was a robin from shape and size before getting my bins on it and then was shocked. I had pulled over -- no place to really stop but I stopped anyway -- because of the number of birds I saw flitting around in the cedars and flying across the road. It seemed very skittish, hiding under the cedar tree and moving quickly into the grass and back again when I saw it. Then a loud vehicle came through from the other direction and spooked all the birds. It flew into the cedars and I could not find it again. I stayed for at least 20 minutes, maybe a lot longer...
There were many yellow-rumps and tons of robins. Eventually something came through and put up all the robins and they few away en masse -- I estimated about 120. At least 20 yellow rumps, maybe a lot more.
It's a tough place to see birds since the cedars are very dense and you're right on the road without a sidewalk.
Wish I could be more helpful -- I do hope someone else finds it! I was delighted for even such a short view.
Sarah Faulkner
CollinsvilleCTBirds, a service of Connecticut Ornithological Association - Bringing birders together statewide. Please support COA: https://www.ctbirding.org/join-us/
CTBirds is for the discussion of birds and birding in Connecticut. For list rules and subscription information visit: https://www.ctbirding.org/birds-birding/ct-birds-email-list/CTBirds, a service of Connecticut Ornithological Association - Bringing birders together statewide. Please support COA: https://www.ctbirding.org/join-us/
CTBirds is for the discussion of birds and birding in Connecticut. For list rules and subscription information visit: https://www.ctbirding.org/birds-birding/ct-birds-email-list/
CTBirds, a service of Connecticut Ornithological Association - Bringing birders together statewide. Please support COA: https://www.ctbirding.org/join-us/
CTBirds is for the discussion of birds and birding in Connecticut. For list rules and subscription information visit: https://www.ctbirding.org/birds-birding/ct-birds-email-list/
Listen for an eerie whistle. I heard and saw a Varied Thrush some years ago
on Mt. Rainier. You won't forget that sound.
On Mon, Jan 31, 2022 at 9:45 PM SARAH FAULKNER sffaulkner@comcast.net
wrote:
Thank you to the group of expert birders who tried to relocate the varied
thrush I saw at Hammonasset today. I saw it around noon in the grass under
a cedar along the road, north side, about halfway between the roundabout
and the Nature Center -- heavy cedars on both sides of the road for at
least 100'.
It was very clearly a varied thrush - orange eyebrow, orange throat with
black band beneath and then fading orange on lower breast, orange
wingbars. I thought it was a robin from shape and size before getting my
bins on it and then was shocked. I had pulled over -- no place to really
stop but I stopped anyway -- because of the number of birds I saw flitting
around in the cedars and flying across the road. It seemed very skittish,
hiding under the cedar tree and moving quickly into the grass and back
again when I saw it. Then a loud vehicle came through from the other
direction and spooked all the birds. It flew into the cedars and I could
not find it again. I stayed for at least 20 minutes, maybe a lot longer...
There were many yellow-rumps and tons of robins. Eventually something
came through and put up all the robins and they few away en masse -- I
estimated about 120. At least 20 yellow rumps, maybe a lot more.
It's a tough place to see birds since the cedars are very dense and you're
right on the road without a sidewalk.
Wish I could be more helpful -- I do hope someone else finds it! I was
delighted for even such a short view.
Sarah Faulkner
Collinsville
CTBirds, a service of Connecticut Ornithological Association - Bringing
birders together statewide. Please support COA:
https://www.ctbirding.org/join-us/
CTBirds is for the discussion of birds and birding in Connecticut. For
list rules and subscription information visit:
https://www.ctbirding.org/birds-birding/ct-birds-email-list/
Hi all -- sorry my posting was frustrating. I posted to eBird right away, knowing that folks who follow rarities would get the eBird notice. As Chuck said, you can sign up for it in eBird. I didn't post to ctbirds at the time for two reasons: my phone has had trouble with emails, causing my ctbirds emails to often lack the content and have only the subject line, plus I knew how hard it would be to relocate this bird -- it's a very tough location -- and didn't want to cause a stampede if it could not be relocated.
I do hope that other folks are able to see it, though. It was a shocking wonderful surprise for me!
Sarah
On 01/31/2022 11:34 PM Chuck Imbergamo <imbercj@comcast.net> wrote:
Hi Andrew – Those of us looking found out because of eBird and the Rare Bird Alert function. You can sign up for them on eBird; depending on your settings they can come to you as emails rather quickly, which is why we headed to Hammo so fast.
I didn’t post about our search on the list because at the time I didn’t know if the person who saw it was certain, and I didn’t want to create excitement for a bird we hadn’t actually seen and that was only a second-hand report.
And to be honest, this will be a tough one to find. The words ‘needle in a haystack’ were spoken many times today.
Maybe see you tomorrow – this would be a good needle to find!
Chuck Imbergamo
CT Birds Moderator
Madison
From: Andrew MacDonald mailto:andrew.macdonald.ns@gmail.com
Sent: Monday, January 31, 2022 11:14 PM
To: Chuck Imbergamo mailto:imbercj@comcast.net
Cc: SARAH FAULKNER mailto:sffaulkner@comcast.net ; ctbirds mailto:ctbirds@lists.ctbirding.org
Subject: Re: [CT Birds] Re: Varied Thrush
Curious what the point of this listserve is if this many birders are alerted to a mega rarity and it’s not reported on here. Did I miss a message?
I’m guessing many others would have left the house in 15 minutes to look for this bird.
On Jan 31, 2022, at 10:52 PM, Chuck Imbergamo imbercj@comcast.net wrote:
Hi All – I was alerted to Sarah’s eBird report by Hammo specialist Micky Komara and I was on-site and looking within 15 minutes - this would be a lifer for me, so I wasted no time getting out the door!
I was joined by Micky, Julian Hough, John Oshlick, Russ Smiley and Paul Desjardins. Some looked for a while and had to leave, but after 2+ hours no one found the bird. There was a lot of activity with Robins, Yellow-rumped Warblers and Starlings…and there was a Sharp-shinned Hawk hunting and causing a lot of commotion. At one point I heard what I thought was a Hermit Thrush but I have since learned that the Varied Thrush has a similar call, so perhaps that was him…maybe!
To clarify on the location, there is a very dense cedar stand on both sides of the road just past the East Beach parking area as you head out to Meig’s Point. The cedars on both sides are before the pull-off ahead on the right. Looking on the map, the point where Sarah saw the bird is approximately at 41.257509, -72.552345, the north side of the road. It is a VERY tough place to look because there is a lot of snow, the cedars are very dense and there are a lot of cars and no place for people, unless you’re standing in the snow.
Best bet is to park at the East Beach lot and wear tall boots to walk the snow.
I will likely try again for a while tomorrow AM but I also learned that this species is a skulker so it’s probably a long shot.
Fingers crossed!
Chuck Imbergamo
CT Birds Moderator
Madison
From: SARAH FAULKNER
Sent: Monday, January 31, 2022 9:45 PM
To: ctbirds
Subject: [CT Birds] Varied Thrush
Thank you to the group of expert birders who tried to relocate the varied thrush I saw at Hammonasset today. I saw it around noon in the grass under a cedar along the road, north side, about halfway between the roundabout and the Nature Center -- heavy cedars on both sides of the road for at least 100'.
It was very clearly a varied thrush - orange eyebrow, orange throat with black band beneath and then fading orange on lower breast, orange wingbars. I thought it was a robin from shape and size before getting my bins on it and then was shocked. I had pulled over -- no place to really stop but I stopped anyway -- because of the number of birds I saw flitting around in the cedars and flying across the road. It seemed very skittish, hiding under the cedar tree and moving quickly into the grass and back again when I saw it. Then a loud vehicle came through from the other direction and spooked all the birds. It flew into the cedars and I could not find it again. I stayed for at least 20 minutes, maybe a lot longer...
There were many yellow-rumps and tons of robins. Eventually something came through and put up all the robins and they few away en masse -- I estimated about 120. At least 20 yellow rumps, maybe a lot more.
It's a tough place to see birds since the cedars are very dense and you're right on the road without a sidewalk.
Wish I could be more helpful -- I do hope someone else finds it! I was delighted for even such a short view.
Sarah Faulkner
Collinsville
CTBirds, a service of Connecticut Ornithological Association - Bringing birders together statewide. Please support COA: https://www.ctbirding.org/join-us/
CTBirds is for the discussion of birds and birding in Connecticut. For list rules and subscription information visit: https://www.ctbirding.org/birds-birding/ct-birds-email-list/
CTBirds, a service of Connecticut Ornithological Association - Bringing birders together statewide. Please support COA: https://www.ctbirding.org/join-us/
CTBirds is for the discussion of birds and birding in Connecticut. For list rules and subscription information visit: https://www.ctbirding.org/birds-birding/ct-birds-email-list/
Nothing to apologize for, Sarah. And I appreciate your caution and call for extra eyes for confirmation.
The experience may help folks sign up for eBirds alerts. Really a valuable resource in addition to this listserv.
I may head out to Hammo, look for some Robins, and hope for the best.
-Abby Sesselberg
Guilford
Sent by my handheld gonculator.
On Feb 1, 2022, at 12:50 PM, SARAH FAULKNER sffaulkner@comcast.net wrote:
Hi all -- sorry my posting was frustrating. I posted to eBird right away, knowing that folks who follow rarities would get the eBird notice. As Chuck said, you can sign up for it in eBird. I didn't post to ctbirds at the time for two reasons: my phone has had trouble with emails, causing my ctbirds emails to often lack the content and have only the subject line, plus I knew how hard it would be to relocate this bird -- it's a very tough location -- and didn't want to cause a stampede if it could not be relocated.
I do hope that other folks are able to see it, though. It was a shocking wonderful surprise for me!
Sarah
On 01/31/2022 11:34 PM Chuck Imbergamo imbercj@comcast.net wrote:
Hi Andrew – Those of us looking found out because of eBird and the Rare Bird Alert function. You can sign up for them on eBird; depending on your settings they can come to you as emails rather quickly, which is why we headed to Hammo so fast.
I didn’t post about our search on the list because at the time I didn’t know if the person who saw it was certain, and I didn’t want to create excitement for a bird we hadn’t actually seen and that was only a second-hand report.
And to be honest, this will be a tough one to find. The words ‘needle in a haystack’ were spoken many times today.
Maybe see you tomorrow – this would be a good needle to find!
Chuck Imbergamo
CT Birds Moderator
Madison
From: Andrew MacDonald mailto:andrew.macdonald.ns@gmail.com
Sent: Monday, January 31, 2022 11:14 PM
To: Chuck Imbergamo mailto:imbercj@comcast.net
Cc: SARAH FAULKNER mailto:sffaulkner@comcast.net ; ctbirds mailto:ctbirds@lists.ctbirding.org
Subject: Re: [CT Birds] Re: Varied ThrushCurious what the point of this listserve is if this many birders are alerted to a mega rarity and it’s not reported on here. Did I miss a message?
I’m guessing many others would have left the house in 15 minutes to look for this bird.
On Jan 31, 2022, at 10:52 PM, Chuck Imbergamo imbercj@comcast.net wrote:
Hi All – I was alerted to Sarah’s eBird report by Hammo specialist Micky Komara and I was on-site and looking within 15 minutes - this would be a lifer for me, so I wasted no time getting out the door!
I was joined by Micky, Julian Hough, John Oshlick, Russ Smiley and Paul Desjardins. Some looked for a while and had to leave, but after 2+ hours no one found the bird. There was a lot of activity with Robins, Yellow-rumped Warblers and Starlings…and there was a Sharp-shinned Hawk hunting and causing a lot of commotion. At one point I heard what I thought was a Hermit Thrush but I have since learned that the Varied Thrush has a similar call, so perhaps that was him…maybe!
To clarify on the location, there is a very dense cedar stand on both sides of the road just past the East Beach parking area as you head out to Meig’s Point. The cedars on both sides are before the pull-off ahead on the right. Looking on the map, the point where Sarah saw the bird is approximately at 41.257509, -72.552345, the north side of the road. It is a VERY tough place to look because there is a lot of snow, the cedars are very dense and there are a lot of cars and no place for people, unless you’re standing in the snow.
Best bet is to park at the East Beach lot and wear tall boots to walk the snow.
I will likely try again for a while tomorrow AM but I also learned that this species is a skulker so it’s probably a long shot.
Fingers crossed!
Chuck Imbergamo
CT Birds Moderator
Madison
From: SARAH FAULKNER
Sent: Monday, January 31, 2022 9:45 PM
To: ctbirds
Subject: [CT Birds] Varied Thrush
Thank you to the group of expert birders who tried to relocate the varied thrush I saw at Hammonasset today. I saw it around noon in the grass under a cedar along the road, north side, about halfway between the roundabout and the Nature Center -- heavy cedars on both sides of the road for at least 100'.
It was very clearly a varied thrush - orange eyebrow, orange throat with black band beneath and then fading orange on lower breast, orange wingbars. I thought it was a robin from shape and size before getting my bins on it and then was shocked. I had pulled over -- no place to really stop but I stopped anyway -- because of the number of birds I saw flitting around in the cedars and flying across the road. It seemed very skittish, hiding under the cedar tree and moving quickly into the grass and back again when I saw it. Then a loud vehicle came through from the other direction and spooked all the birds. It flew into the cedars and I could not find it again. I stayed for at least 20 minutes, maybe a lot longer...
There were many yellow-rumps and tons of robins. Eventually something came through and put up all the robins and they few away en masse -- I estimated about 120. At least 20 yellow rumps, maybe a lot more.
It's a tough place to see birds since the cedars are very dense and you're right on the road without a sidewalk.
Wish I could be more helpful -- I do hope someone else finds it! I was delighted for even such a short view.
Sarah Faulkner
Collinsville
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Thanks for all your replies both online and offline. I understand how uncooperative technology can be in the field and how chaotic it can be after a possible rarity has just been sighted.
In the future I will check both lists and may make an effort to repost something that is on eBird that others may not see if they are just on this listserve.
I do want to give a tip of the cap to those that do post alerts on the listserve and those that manage it. As others have said, it really is a tremendous resource, and not something common in all states.
Last post from me to avoid filling inboxes. Good birding! And of course today I can’t look for the thrush do to work commitments…thanks to those who did search!
On Feb 1, 2022, at 12:49 PM, SARAH FAULKNER sffaulkner@comcast.net wrote:
Hi all -- sorry my posting was frustrating. I posted to eBird right away, knowing that folks who follow rarities would get the eBird notice. As Chuck said, you can sign up for it in eBird. I didn't post to ctbirds at the time for two reasons: my phone has had trouble with emails, causing my ctbirds emails to often lack the content and have only the subject line, plus I knew how hard it would be to relocate this bird -- it's a very tough location -- and didn't want to cause a stampede if it could not be relocated.
I do hope that other folks are able to see it, though. It was a shocking wonderful surprise for me!
Sarah
On 01/31/2022 11:34 PM Chuck Imbergamo imbercj@comcast.net wrote:
Hi Andrew – Those of us looking found out because of eBird and the Rare Bird Alert function. You can sign up for them on eBird; depending on your settings they can come to you as emails rather quickly, which is why we headed to Hammo so fast.
I didn’t post about our search on the list because at the time I didn’t know if the person who saw it was certain, and I didn’t want to create excitement for a bird we hadn’t actually seen and that was only a second-hand report.
And to be honest, this will be a tough one to find. The words ‘needle in a haystack’ were spoken many times today.
Maybe see you tomorrow – this would be a good needle to find!
Chuck Imbergamo
CT Birds Moderator
Madison
From: Andrew MacDonald
Sent: Monday, January 31, 2022 11:14 PM
To: Chuck Imbergamo
Cc: SARAH FAULKNER; ctbirds
Subject: Re: [CT Birds] Re: Varied Thrush
Curious what the point of this listserve is if this many birders are alerted to a mega rarity and it’s not reported on here. Did I miss a message?
I’m guessing many others would have left the house in 15 minutes to look for this bird.
On Jan 31, 2022, at 10:52 PM, Chuck Imbergamo imbercj@comcast.net wrote:
Hi All – I was alerted to Sarah’s eBird report by Hammo specialist Micky Komara and I was on-site and looking within 15 minutes - this would be a lifer for me, so I wasted no time getting out the door!
I was joined by Micky, Julian Hough, John Oshlick, Russ Smiley and Paul Desjardins. Some looked for a while and had to leave, but after 2+ hours no one found the bird. There was a lot of activity with Robins, Yellow-rumped Warblers and Starlings…and there was a Sharp-shinned Hawk hunting and causing a lot of commotion. At one point I heard what I thought was a Hermit Thrush but I have since learned that the Varied Thrush has a similar call, so perhaps that was him…maybe!
To clarify on the location, there is a very dense cedar stand on both sides of the road just past the East Beach parking area as you head out to Meig’s Point. The cedars on both sides are before the pull-off ahead on the right. Looking on the map, the point where Sarah saw the bird is approximately at 41.257509, -72.552345, the north side of the road. It is a VERY tough place to look because there is a lot of snow, the cedars are very dense and there are a lot of cars and no place for people, unless you’re standing in the snow.
Best bet is to park at the East Beach lot and wear tall boots to walk the snow.
I will likely try again for a while tomorrow AM but I also learned that this species is a skulker so it’s probably a long shot.
Fingers crossed!
Chuck Imbergamo
CT Birds Moderator
Madison
From: SARAH FAULKNER
Sent: Monday, January 31, 2022 9:45 PM
To: ctbirds
Subject: [CT Birds] Varied Thrush
Thank you to the group of expert birders who tried to relocate the varied thrush I saw at Hammonasset today. I saw it around noon in the grass under a cedar along the road, north side, about halfway between the roundabout and the Nature Center -- heavy cedars on both sides of the road for at least 100'.
It was very clearly a varied thrush - orange eyebrow, orange throat with black band beneath and then fading orange on lower breast, orange wingbars. I thought it was a robin from shape and size before getting my bins on it and then was shocked. I had pulled over -- no place to really stop but I stopped anyway -- because of the number of birds I saw flitting around in the cedars and flying across the road. It seemed very skittish, hiding under the cedar tree and moving quickly into the grass and back again when I saw it. Then a loud vehicle came through from the other direction and spooked all the birds. It flew into the cedars and I could not find it again. I stayed for at least 20 minutes, maybe a lot longer...
There were many yellow-rumps and tons of robins. Eventually something came through and put up all the robins and they few away en masse -- I estimated about 120. At least 20 yellow rumps, maybe a lot more.
It's a tough place to see birds since the cedars are very dense and you're right on the road without a sidewalk.
Wish I could be more helpful -- I do hope someone else finds it! I was delighted for even such a short view.
Sarah Faulkner
Collinsville
CTBirds, a service of Connecticut Ornithological Association - Bringing birders together statewide. Please support COA: https://www.ctbirding.org/join-us/
CTBirds is for the discussion of birds and birding in Connecticut. For list rules and subscription information visit: https://www.ctbirding.org/birds-birding/ct-birds-email-list/
CTBirds, a service of Connecticut Ornithological Association - Bringing birders together statewide. Please support COA: https://www.ctbirding.org/join-us/
CTBirds is for the discussion of birds and birding in Connecticut. For list rules and subscription information visit: https://www.ctbirding.org/birds-birding/ct-birds-email-list/