Date: 9/18/25 11:06 am From: ROBERT SPAHN <rspahn...> Subject: [GeneseeBirds-L] Hamlin Beach SP - west end - thrushes; Bicknell's ??
Hamlin Beach SP - West end woods, Monroe, New York, US
Sep 18, 2025 9:25 AM - 10:40 AM
Bob & Sue Spahn, <rspahn...>: Traveling
0.8 mile(s)
Checklist Comments: Sue and I decided to take today's walk on the west end trail at Hamlin Beach starting at the far end of Parking lot 5, west on the trail through the brush and woods, at the T, south to the service road, and then back on the service road to the car. With the dry conditions and little food obvious, it was mostly a very quiet walk. VERY FEW small passerines. Often at this time of year, this has been a great walk for numbers of Swainson's and Gray-cheeked thrushes down and resting and feeding in the thickets. In the past decade or so, the habitat along the path has changed dramatically. Formerly, there were lots of sumac clusters providing canopies over patches of fairly open ground with leaf litter surrounded by brush. Perfect for these thrushes. Almost all goone and replaced with dense brush in those areas. We had oly three single SWTH calling early on along the trail. Then just as we approached the area where the trail S meets the service road, after I had been doing some spishing, screech-owl whistling, and a couple of Barred Owl imitations, we came upon a mixed brush and more open area on the left full of calling Gray-cheeked Thrushes - conservative estimate of 12 from timing and locations of the calls. A few were from a bit farther ahead and on the right along the service road opening. Among them calling 3-4 times was on individual I would call a Bicknell's Thrush with the same caveat I have applied over the years - to the extent that the night flight call audio by Evans and O'Brien had captured Bicknell's call. It was clearly a bit thinner than those of the GCTHs, the whole call higher pitch than the highest point of any of the other calls, and the dropoff at the end a bit less to my ear.21 species
Mourning Dove 1
Eastern Screech-Owl 1
Red-bellied Woodpecker 2
Downy Woodpecker 1
Northern Flicker 5
Eastern Wood-Pewee 2
Red-eyed Vireo 2
Blue Jay 14
Black-capped Chickadee 4
White-breasted Nuthatch 2
Carolina Wren 2
Gray Catbird 3
Eastern Bluebird 5
Gray-cheeked Thrush 12 See trip notes. I have counted the species here for years. The night flight they continue to given after landing is a distinctive inverted "v" veer-type call very different from Veery. It was interesting that, as many times in the past, I stopped by BBBO on the way home to see how they had done with the thrushes today - only one GC/BI retrap. In the past it has ranged from similar to totally different comparing my counts with the BBBO banding. These migration "events" are spotty in locations on a given day. Historically a count this high has been toward the early and of the GCTH fall period, not unique.
From trip notes: Then just as we approached the area where the trail S meets the service road, after I had been doing some spishing, screech-owl whistling, and a couple of Barred Owl imitations, we came upon a mixed brush and more open area on the left full of calling Gray-cheeked Thrushes - conservative estimate of 12 from timing and locations of the calls. A few were from a bit farther ahead and on the right along the service road opening.
Bicknell's Thrush 1 Again, see trip notes. I will try to copy and paste here.
Among them (the GCTH) calling 3-4 times was on individual I would call a Bicknell's Thrush with the same caveat I have applied over the years - to the extent that the night flight call audio by Evans and O'Brien had captured Bicknell's call. It was clearly a bit thinner than those of the GCTHs, the whole call higher pitch than the highest point of any of the other calls, and the dropoff at the end a bit less to my ear.
Swainson's Thrush 3
American Robin 7
White-throated Sparrow 7
Song Sparrow 1
Magnolia Warbler 1
Northern Cardinal 12
