Greetings All:
After my very enjoyable morning below Lake Six, I decided to polish
off the day's birding with a trip to Clapp Park. There was some good
stuff about - I added Blue-headed Vireo (arboretum) and Warbling Vireo
(Shrubhenge) to the day's vireo collection and there was a Harris's
Hawk in the large cypress near Culvert Two.
There was also a good assortment of thrushes to be had. I found a
Swainson's Thrush in the arboretum (close to the butterfly garden) and
I had a Hermit Thrush at Shrubhenge. Best of all, though, was the
oddball thrush I chased along the dike for about ten minutes
desperately trying for (and failing to get) pictures. It was a flat
brown above, lacking the reddish tones in the wings and upper tail of
Hermit Thrush and, initially, I thought it was good for a dull
Swainson's Thrush. Closer looks through the binoculars, though,
showed a thin white eyering strongest anteriorly and posteriorly with
a white smudge in front of the eye. In most Swainson's the eyering is
complete and tinted with buff and the smudge in front of the eye is
buff-tinted. The line line bordering the cheek patch was thin,
providing a sharp border to the cheek patch and the cheek patch was a
dull grayish brown. The breast was heavily spotted. Given what I saw
and given the somewhat eastern nature of migration the past few days,
I have a strong feeling that this bird might well be a Gray-cheeked
Thrush.
When last seen this bird wws working its way beneath the willows on
the north side of the dike and when it flushed it disappeared into
thicker foliage on the south side of the dike.
Gray-cheeked Thrush is an irregular migrant (best thought of as casual
with records every two-five years) through the region with almost all
spring records falling in May. They tend to show during spring
migrations that have a strong eastern influence.
Anthony Hewetson