In Search of a White Whale...

There are a few birds that Andy and I have tried over and over again to see, but they always seem to elude us. Once this happens enough, we joke that the bird has reached "white whale" status, as in we're as loony as Captain Ahab crisscrossing the ocean to find Moby Dick. This past weekend we located one of our white whales of Vermont, the Bicknell's Thrush! The silly bird only lives on remote mountain tops over 3800 feet in elevation, and you can only reliably find it for about two weeks of the year (the first 2 in June), when it is singing. Otherwise it's drab and brown and secretive and you'd better not bother.
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The best "view" we could find on top of Mt. Mansfield

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This year we hit the jackpot though, on a foggy, drizzly morning on the top of Mount Mansfield, the highest mountain in VT. When we got to the top, we immediately heard several singing (which does count as "seeing" the bird, according to birding rules (and yes, there are birding rules, but don't get Andy started about those...)). Luckily, after about a half hour of following flute-like songs around, we got a great (though foggy) view of a Bicknell's thrush, singing from the top of a stunted spruce tree. We got ABSOLUTELY NO sweeping scenic views, but you can't have everything!

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This is right about where we heard the first thrushes

. Carrie and Aiden in the fog

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Kind of an eerie morning
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We also got two other lifers last weekend, which I think qualifies it for the best birding weekend we've had in Vermont, probably ever. We got a great look at a singing male Golden-Winged Warbler, and heard many Alder Flycatchers in a shrub swamp in South Burlington.