I have to thank Linda Scrima for motivating me this afternoon. I had not come up with a birding plan for the afternoon, and I was feeling a bit uninspired. Earlier in the day, Linda had gone for the Yellow-breasted Chats that had been reported at the Appalachian Trail off the Canal Road bike path in Vernon Township, New Jersey. At that time, she texted a recording of one of the chats calling, but I was unable to listen to it while I was working. Once I was out for the afternoon, I listened to it and I immediately knew I had to run for the birds; it really got me excited to see a chat! When I first arrived, I could hear at least one bird calling, but distant. I stood in the shade and waited it out; the calls came closer and eventually I located the bird as it took a nice high perch and called repeatedly. The bird was a little bit distant, but in perfect light, so I was able to get decent shots (with a very heavy crop). I stayed for a little over an hour and I was only sure of having one chat. Interestingly, it is seven days shy of a year since I had a pair of chats at this same location last summer.
Funny … I went for the Chat in Dutchess County today, but no luck. I got there later than I had hoped and didn’t hear it. It was hot out there so I wandered down the trail into the woods, which was quite birdy. Fun outing nonetheless 😉 Congrats on your Chat and the great picture. I’ll be content with my Cape May Chat from 2013, until the next time!
It’s usually still pretty fun even when a target bird isn’t located, but I was happy to get this one – you should go for it, it’s not very far from the loop. Mat Geo
So glad that you went for for it! Pretty good photo, considering the distance, and *much* better than mine. And it has an interesting call. This was a nice break from the summer birding doldrum. 🙂
It sure was a nice break from the doldrums, a welcome break for sure. Matt