Sage Thrasher 11/14/23

     Yesterday I went up to Monmouth County to see the state’s first limpkin.  Today I drove down to Atlantic County to find the sage thrasher that had been reported the day before.  This was going to be a life bird for me, one that I missed on previous trips to Arizona and California.  This wayward bird, whose normal range does not extend east of Texas, was found along Wildlife Drive at the Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge in Galloway.  I waited until there was a positive report that the bird was still around.  I headed out when it was reported to be in the same area as it was yesterday.

I started the eight-mile, one way loop known as Wildlife Drive looking for marker 10.  That is where the bird was hanging out.  Marker 10 was about 2.5 miles from the start of the drive.  As I drove closer, I could see several cars parked along the unpaved road.  I figured that is where other birders were looking for/viewing the bird.  I parked at the back end of the line of vehicles so I wouldn’t flush the bird if it was near.  I asked the first person I saw how recently the bird had been seen.  She said it had just flown past where I parked and was somewhere in the tall grass that sloped down between the edge of the road and the water.  It took only a few minutes to find it.  I spent a good 20 to 30 minutes following it around taking nearly 200 photos.  It was very cooperative, walking around the road from side to side, occasionally making short flights back and forth in the same general area.
Sage thrasher.  © S. Weiss

It’s hard for me to leave a new bird once I’ve found it, especially one that I just don’t know when I’ll see another.  This was quite different than yesterday’s limpkin.  I’ve seen many of them, and know I’ll have a good chance to see more the next time I visit Florida.  I spent barely five minutes looking at yesterday’s bird and took only three photos, even though it was a first for the state.  There have been four other sage thrashers that have made their way to NJ, the last in October of 2009.  But this one was my first, and unless I make it back out west, possibly my only one.


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