This morning I received a call from Shane Blodgett, who was birding in Prospect Park. He was looking at a possible Bicknell's Thrush in the Lullwater, a short distance from the Boathouse. He described a gray- cheeked-type thrush with a chestnut tail. The bird was responding to his iPhone's playback of a Bicknell's song. I was able to get back from the city and into Prospect Park by 2:30pm. I set up my portable speakers near where Shane had last seen the bird. Within seconds of playing the Bicknell's song, the bird flew over to a tree near the speakers. It continued flying closer and closer, until it was on the ground several yards away. When I stopped the playback, it went back to foraging on the hillside. I moved the speakers to the opposite side of the path, facing the Lullwater. On playback, the bird flew across the path and, again, moved back and forth in front of the speakers. At one point, when perched on the ground to the side of the speaker, he responded with a clear "whee-er". I packed up my gear and began to leave when I received a call from Rob Bates, who was nearby. When he arrived, I set the speakers out again, played the song, the bird returned ... you get the idea. Just to be certain, though, we also played the Gray-cheeked Thrush song. The bird never responded and, in fact, just continued foraging within the leaf litter on the hillside. I wasn't able to get any photos due to the rain and terrible lighting (not to mention my crappy camera). The last time I got a Bicknell's Thrush to respond to a recording in Prospect Park was on May 24, 2006. Sean Sime took some really good photos of that bird here -
http://citybirder.blogspot.com/2006/05/gray-cheeked-thrushes-in-prospect-park.html If you decide to look for this bird, here is a link to a map: http://tinyurl.com/28bogor Good birding, Rob PS - This was another NA lifer for Sebastian from Germany. -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/maillist.html 2) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NYSB.html 3) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
