Hey all
Bill Keith and I got together for a Catharus hunt at Weyanoke Sanctuary this
morning. SWAINSON'S THRUSH was most abundant, natch, but we soon had a
GRAY-CHEEKED THRUSH perched close, alternately singing two short songs. Same
size as Swainson's and the lower mandible was half yellow, half black, with a
discernible eye ring. Later a BICKNELL'S THRUSH responded to playback (yeah,
yeah, I know all about it; save it) and it was astonishing in that it was
identical to the recording. I'm not especially talented at birding by ear but
it
instantly registered. Bill turned around to see if it was me or the bird, and I
had to check my cell phone to see if it was still playing accidentally. No, it
was the bird!
As we worked our way around to where we heard it, a Gray-cheeked sang its
regular song three times, with the descending end. I was thrilled to be able to
distinguish the two songs. We found our bird on the ground behind a
Many-trunked
Whatchamacallit Bush and got decent looks as parts of it disappeared and
reappeared. Smallish, more yellow on the lower mandible, and a plainer face and
vague
eye ring. Neither of us noted more brownish above or a reddish tail, but we did
remark that the field marks are extremely subtle (no big surprise). If this
bird
is IDable away from its breeding ground, having all three together is a huge
plus. We called it, fo' sure.
I later got a half decent photo of a Gray-cheeked but, once again, Comcast is
such a PITA
that I gave up trying to post it. Eh, FI, I'd rather go birding.
I checked the MONK PARAKEET colony on Rexford Dr.
both coming and going. I didn't find any but a local resident said 20+
birds are still common. The nest seems even more infested with House Sparrows
than the last time I was there, it seems inevitable that they are a detriment
to the colony.
Maybe Steven Living knows more. I can't avoid the thought of a shop-vac with a
10 foot
wand and hoovering up a bunch of those brats :-)
Good birds,
John Fox
Arlington
