Another incredibly successful Bicknell’s Thrush Weekend is in the books. I could probably simply include just those two photos as proof of a successful trip, but we had a lot of other great birds too! And with three great photographers on the tour, I think I will mostly let the photos do the talking this year.

I’m always adjusting this itinerary to give us the most chances to have the most productive visit to the realm of the Bicknell’s Thrush, and with two nights in town, we had up to 4 chances to visit the high-elevation habitat at the right times of day.

I almost used the first night to make a run for it. Then I made the decision to not go up the mountain on our first morning together, instead electing (for a variety of reasons including the other birds participants were hoping to see) to spend the morning birding Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom, in and around Silvio E. Conte National Wildlife Refuge.

Highlights included 2 family groups of Canada Jays,  at least 2 Cape May Warblers, incredible looks at Mourning Warblers, heard-only Red Crossbills, singing Palm Warblers, and much more.

We also birded slowly, looking at all matters of life, including insects and plants.

And found a new (to me) delicious lunch stop.

After an afternoon break and a great early dinner, it was finally time to head up hill and get to work. And work it was! The mountain was full of Swainson’s Thrushes and wind, and as the sun was setting, only a few Bicknell’s Thrushes were heard at all. I was beginning to lose hope, putting the pressure on for the following morning, when I heard two birds calling back and forth across the road. At 9:01pm, with just enough light for any sort of photograph, this happened (and see Bill’s photos above)!

Celebration ensued, backs were patted, high-fives were exchanged. Success! (And yes, relief, too!)

We “slept in” a few extra minutes on Sunday morning, knowing the primary mission was accomplished. But we returned to the same place, without pressure, and birded casually.

With another picnic breakfast in the field, our musical soundtrack was provided by several singing Bicknell’s Thrushes, and multiple calling birds. At least 6-8 birds were detected in all, but we all decided to just relax, enjoy them, and not even try to see them. It was a great way to really experience the Bicknell’s Thrush.

But we did look at everything else! We had a pair of, uh, “confiding” Canada Jays, 2 Bay-breasted Warblers and several Blackpoll Warblers.

And then we slowly birded downhill, finding 2 more Cape May Warblers, 4 Mourning Warblers, hearing two Boreal Chickadees, but also lamenting on the apparent disappearance of Philadelphia Vireo here (although we did hear one distant candidate).

Lunch, a little tourism stop to see some local landmarks and a Common Loon on a lake in the north woods. As we approached Colebrook, the rain that we had successfully and thankfully avoided all weekend caught up with us and the skies absolutely opened up, bringing the tour to a slightly early end for everyone to take their time in driving home or to airports safely.