The Nightingale-Thrush? Oh yes!

The alarm on the cellphone in my pocket went off at 4:45am and I uncurled myself from the backseat and got out of the car.  There was a moon cast to the sky, but there wasn't any clear sky, only lots of lightning.  And the thrush was not singing.  Shortly thereafter local birder Sheila drove up in her truck, hoping to wedge in a view of the thrush before she had to go off to work.  Still no thrush calls.  Then the rain came and it was back into the car for about ten minutes until the rain slowed.  Back outside I heard the distinctive calls of the thrush, but it was so blooming dark that there was no chance of picking it out of the foliage.  Another local birder showed up.  We three followed the calling bird around for about half an hour until it flew across the road near the parking lot and stopped calling.  At that point Jen Fowler and her naturalist friend drove up.  Jen has been following the movements and antics of the thrush since its discovery.  The expanded group waited and listened for about fifteen minutes before the bird started calling again.  I actually saw it fly a couple of times but the views were less than wonderful.  More local birders came by and tried to glimpse the bird, then left when they didn't succeed.  A friend of mine, Jay Lehman, formerly of Delaware and a participant on the pelagic trips I ran in the 70's and 80's arrived.  Jay now lives in Cincinnati.  He had seen the bird yesterday, but came back today to see if he could photograph it.  About then the sun broke through the clouds.  The bird was still calling, but nobody seemed able to find it while it was perched....until Jen did.  She got the rest of us who were still in attendance onto the bird including me (web photo).  I have seen the bird a number of times in Mexico but it has always been a pain in the rear to find in the vegetation.  This bird today was, however, an ABA bird (#756) and a year bird (679).  After the sighting, I thanked Jen, said goodbye to everyone, jumped in the car and went for breakfast at a local place, Cheyene Corners, where I had one buttermilk pancake, one egg, two pieces of bacon, and coffee.  It really tasted good.  At that point it was approaching noon, so I pointed the car south and drove the 400 miles back to Denver where I got a room in the Motel 6 nearest the airport, filled the car's gas tank, then filled my tank with Chineses takeout from the restaurant across the street.  I ate the food in the room while chatting with Joyce.  Tomorrow I fly to LA and drive from there to Santa Barbara where I hope the Condor will make it out for a pelagic trip.