Two trips to the coast, the first an unsuccessful long rainy outing, and the second a quieter and quicker trip, yielded a new lifer and an Oregon rarity: Wood Thrush!

The location and local rarity of the bird worked together to bring in a large number of birders. I don't think I've been at a rarity stakeout this busy yet in my brief birding life. It was a fun and peculiar experience: kind of exactly what you'd expect if you imagine about 20 people huddled together in the woods, trying to stay quiet yet call out where the bird is, while politely jockeying for position to peer into the thicket. All to see a tiny, shy bird that's much more common on the east coast.

Everyone was trying to get a lay of the land on the first day, where the first couple hours were devoted to an ad-hoc strategy of dispersal, to simply try to find the bird. After two hours the bird had been located but after three hours very few of us were actually able to see it. There were probably too many of us making too much noise and moving around too urgently, and it was rain was coming down harder and harder. The bird was probably just hiding from it all. I had to head back at that point, but at least the bird had been located.

I was able to return a few days later. I was optimistic because reports of the bird kept coming in regularly over those three days. The bird wasn't moving. Upon arriving I found only a few people, and I knew where to go. The people already there were very helpful, and I was able to spot the bird after 10 or 15 minutes of waiting quietly. I tried to pay it forward, and helped others who arrived after me to find it.

The bird itself was reclusive little brown thrush, but a striking orange color. I did get some photos despite the vegetation and dim light, and I even got to heard it singing softly a few times. This was a rewarding and memorable rarity chase, and I was impressed by the birding community in Oregon.

These photos are © 2025 Phil Thompson, all rights reserved.

My "birds in review" collages can be found here.