Vermont Rare Bird Reports 2021

Just me

Nice October day with little wind

Leica Noctivids, 8x

Very limited with both gray-cheeked and Bicknell's

Woods on the west side of the Ti-Haul trail right after the open area with the bench

Bird was perched on a branch about 10 feet into the woods before flying down onto the woods floor and disappearing. Stayed on the branch long enough for me to get a good clear look at it.

None that I heard

I saw a bird perched on a branch and got my binocs on it quickly. It was unmistakably a thrush given its posture, short straight bill and spotted breast. I was immediately struck by how nondescript the colorization was-a cold grayish brown-with a distinctly gray cheek, setting off an easily seen nearly complete eye ring (which would rule out a first year bird, I believe). I then thought gray-cheeked thrush and looked at it's back and tail, which were uniformly colored grayish brown, with no hint of red on the tail. I double checked the cheeks and saw no buffy tones that would suggest a Swainson's but was again struck by how extensively gray the cheeks were. The throat and upper breast were clearly very spotted

Slightly smaller than a robin with a profile very similar to a hermit thrush, which I am very familiar with

see above

Did not focus on the feet. The bill was relatively short and straight

Grayish brown

Virtually the same color as the upper back.

Wing color blended in seamlessly with the upper back, with no wing bars. Did not note the wing length when perched and it flew too quickly for me to have any other impression of the wings

Spotted breast tending to white below the spots. Did not see the under tail coverts and don't recall the color of the flanks.

Upper tail the same color as the back.

As noted, bird was clearly a thrush. Hermit ruled out by uniformly gray cheeks and lack of red on tail. Swainson's ruled out by gray cheeks with no buffy tones and more grayish back. I am familiar with both hermit and Swainson's and immediately decided it could not have been either one of them. Wood thrush was not even a consideration based on what I saw. The bird could well have been a Bicknell's though. I would be the first to admit that my experience with Bicknell's and gray-cheeked is very limited and wonder if the date and location might suggest one over the other.

Scott Morrical saw what he believed was a gray-cheeked thrush on the Ti-Haul road perhaps 10 days earlier, and I assume he reported it. He saw his bird perhaps a quarter mile further south on the trail, so there is no strong reason to assume it was the same bird.