Bicknell's Thrush in evening?

Charles Duncan

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Jul 6, 2021, 2:38:26 PM7/6/21

to Maine birds

Laura and I are heading to Rangeley / Saddleback tomorrow with Bicknell's Thrush in mind. The forecast for early Thursday, when we had planned to make our climb, includes showers as the morning develops. We're wondering about heading up Wednesday later in the day while the weather is still good.

Does anyone on the list have experience with these birds later in the day? All the lists we've seen are early morning. Most thrushes have an evening song, but admittedly, it's getting late in the breeding season for singing.

It seems that the Gray Ghost and Tricolor trails are the ones to focus on. Is that right?

Any and all advice is welcome!

Chris Spurgeon

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Jul 8, 2021, 2:46:39 PM7/8/21

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Hi Charles...

"Birdwatching in Maine: A Site Guide" by Derek Lovitch says Bicknell's Thrush can be heard actively vocalizing at dusk as well as at dawn.

Chris Spurgeon

La Crescenta, CA / Belgrade, ME

Chris Spurgeon

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Jul 8, 2021, 2:47:20 PM7/8/21

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Ooh, just realizing you went there YESTERDAY! Any luck?

Chris Spurgeon

La Crescenta, CA / Belgrade, ME

Charles Duncan

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Jul 8, 2021, 8:09:08 PM7/8/21

to Maine birds

Many thanks to all who added helpful comments and experiences! Let me say again how much I appreciate the way Maine birders help one another! Not the case everywhere....

Laura and I decided not to go up Saddleback last evening, figuring that if we if did go and dipped that we’d never have the energy to get up early to try again today. Instead we birded along the Boy Scout Road, but found no Spruce Grouse or other yummies.

This morning we started up Saddleback at 5:30 a.m. and got up to 3,000’ on the Gray Ghost Trail quickly. The day started out pretty nice, although cool. Lots of Swainson’s Thrushes, Blackpolls and so on. As we kept getting higher, the temperature stayed quite chilly (maybe 52°), the sky grew cloudy, the wind picked up and bird activity dropped as we got to the top of the the trail/ Royal Coachman chairlift, about 6:40 a.m. We followed the “Uphill Access” sign and got to the top of the Tricolor trail by 7:20 with no hints of BITH or any of the boreal specialties. We kept going up through krummholz, eventually getting above treeline by 7:35, up to maybe 4080’. It was really chilly there with no birds of any sort. I even borrowed a down vest from Laura.

We were pretty discouraged as we headed down. This got worse when I realized I hadn’t picked up my camera after putting on Laura’s vest. So back up I went, perhaps another 300’ vertical from where I figured it out. Fortunately, I found the camera and headed back down a second time. Just as we got back to where we were when I realized I had left my camera, Laura heard 3 songs and a “veer” from BITH. I got over fast enough to hear a few more veers and one song. Yay!! But then silence. We kept looking at each other saying “that was it, right?” “Yes, it had to be!” So we sat down across the trail and ate a snack for 15 minutes to kill time, hoping constantly. But never a peep after that. As you can imagine, our moods had brightened.

The wind kept up and there were even some very light rain showers. Bird activity on the way down was barely a fraction of what it was on the ascent. I was glad to be back at the lodge and even gladder that Oquossoc was having a strawberry shortcake festival! We felt we had earned it.