I wanted to share this sighting on the listserv since it may not yet have reached those who don’t use eBird or the Manhattan Rare Bird Alert GroupMe. A Bicknell’s Thrush is currently singing and foraging in the North Woods of Central Park, favoring an area along West Drive and west of the Blockhouse.
The documentation of this bird has been a community effort that has taken some time to crystallize: Christian Cooper was the first to report a Gray-cheeked-type thrush in the area on May 10th, and recordings from that day by Tom Benson were posted the following day when Ben Stadler also heard and recorded it. Dmitriy Aronov observed the thrush on the evening of May 11th, and a small team (myself, Adam Cunningham, Evan Schumann, and Mary Beth Kooper) relocated it this morning. It has been seen and heard on both sides of West Drive. The first encounters today were silent sightings, though this individual is recognizable due to distinctive pale spots on the coverts of its right wing. It didn’t begin singing until we’ll after daybreak, around 6:20 AM. For those interested in an evening twitch, last night it began vocalizing around 7:20 PM. Good luck to all who go for it! Cheers, -Tim H -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME.htm http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES.htm http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/nysbirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L 3) http://birding.aba.org/maillist/NY01 Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --