Viet and Petersen’s “Birds of Massachusetts”, published in 1993, is a great book that not only summarizes the regular nesters and migrants of MA, but also documents the amazing collection of rarities that have been seen in the state over the years. Included in the book is a summary of a Fieldfare seen for over a week in April 1986 in eastern MA, before my time in New England. I don’t know how many times I’ve read that summary over the years, trying to imagine how amazing that sighting must have been for such an extreme US rarity. And I could only dream about what it would be like to see this one in ABA region. Little did I know that lightning would strike a second time in the spring of 2013.
It was a Sunday in mid-March and I had checked my e-mail numerous times during the day as I always do hoping for a report of some rarity to chase after, but with no luck. But then after dinner I checked my e-mail again and quickly noticed a post with the word “Fieldfare” in the subject line. The 5 seconds it took to open that message on my iPhone seemed like an eternity – not only was a Fieldfare seen that day in a flock of Robins, but it was around much of the day seen by a number of birders who “got the call”. Plus it was in Carlisle, MA, just 40 minutes from my house and less than 15 minutes from work. Unfortunately I’m not in those birding circles to get a call about the bird, and the first e-mail about the bird wasn’t posted until late in the day. So I could only read about this megararity after the fact. Would it stick around like the 1986 bird, or was it just passing through with a migrant Turdus flock only to be somewhere in Maine or the Maritimes by Monday?
Since the Fieldfare’s location was so close to my office, I planned to go to work on Monday morning and then run out of the office if there was word that the bird was still around. En route to work I checked my e-mails (while safely sitting at a redlight!), and there was a post that the bird was respotted at 7 AM. So with only a slight diversion of my route I was in Carlisle at the bird’s location before 8 – along with at least 30 other carloads of birders. After a short walk I was in the fields where the bird had been reported on Sunday and saw a group of about 50 birders up ahead. I joined the group and got word that they had the Fieldfare perched atop a very tall white pine in the next field over at least 200 yards away – too far away for binoculars. There were only 3 scopes among the 50 birders, so I stood in line and eventually got a scope view of a bird that was 95% obscured by pine needles – hardly satisfying and frankly not identifiable. Then after a couple minutes the bird flew, and even at that distance binocular views showed that the bird was robin-sized and shaped, but very pale (almost white) below. I guess that clinched it for the ID, but still just miserable views. Eventually the Fieldfare came in to feed on small red berries (winterberries maybe?), within 10 feet of the ground, and about 50 yards away. Great views were had by all as the bird perched, fed, and flew from one location to another. To me the bird was most remarkable in flight – at 50 yards even without binoculars the pale breast and white wing linings really made the bird stand out. It was also interesting that the Fieldfare was very difficult to find when perched because it blended into its surroundings, whereas the Robins really stood out. By the way the Robins it was with all seemed to be of the Newfoundland race with very bright red chests.
Fieldfare was ABA Lifer number 735, and Lower 48 Lifer number 712 for me. And it was a world lifer for me as well – I have seen Redwing, Song Thrush, Blackbird, and Mistle Thrush in Europe, but never Fieldfare. And number 402 for my MA list.
One other interesting tidbit – this Fieldfare was located just about 8 miles NNE of the 1986 Fieldfare found in the neighboring town of Concord. Who would have thought that this area would be such a hotspot for Fieldfares!
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