Michael Sanchez was setting up his new camera to capture a waterfall in Hug Point, Oregon, at sunrise when he spotted a small bird hopping around. He took a few photos and didn’t think about it again.
A week later, these photos made him the star – and the envy – of the local ornithological community. Sanchez, a native of Vancouver, Washington, may have inadvertently captured the first images of an extremely rare blue thrush in North America.
The species, native to East Asia, has only been observed once in this region, in 1997. But this observation was rejected by the American Birding Association. If Sanchez’s images are verified by local and national birding groups, he could be considered the first person to successfully record a blue thrush in the area.
“I was very, very surprised at how much it moved people,” he said. “It’s mind-blowing.”
Sanchez, a middle school band director and musician who very recently took up photography as a hobby, had never considered himself a bird watcher. But as he examined his photos from his trip to the coast, he realized that the pretty bird he had seen was unusual – he had never seen anything like it before. “So I thought I should post it on social media, right?” Shortly after, a friend of a friend – an avid birder – contacted us. With its unique blue and chestnut plumage, the bird distinctly resembled a male blue thrush. It turned out that Sanchez may have set a birding record.
“A lot of times when something like this happens, there’s a lot of effort within the birding community to try to verify it, because everyone wants to go see it for themselves,” Brodie said Cass Talbott of the Bird Alliance of Oregon and the Oregon Ornithological Association.
Volunteer experts worked with Sanchez to verify the image and confirm its location. No other local birders have been able to spot the bird since Sanchez photographed it – but curiously, another blue thrush was spotted four days later, on the Farallon Islands, off the coast of San Francisco.
It is not known whether it was the same bird or another bird. As Sanchez’s photos made the rounds in online birding groups, another person reported seeing what might be the same blue thrush in January, but was unable to take a photo.
It is doubly uncertain how this bird managed to escape from its home in North America. “Maybe this bird, individually, just has faulty navigation,” Cass Talbot said. He may have gotten lost and then trapped in a strong wind system. Or maybe he hitched a ride on a boat.
Usually, when ultra rare, non-endemic bird species appear on the West Coast, they are usually seabirds, spotted off the coast. “That’s part of why it’s such a big story here, and people are so excited about it,” he said. “It’s just a little mind-blowing.”
This unlikely sighting is a reminder of how unexpected and fascinating birdwatching can be, added Cass Talbot. “It’s always interesting for us to see how big the world is and how incredible these creatures are.”
Sánchez agrees. He wasn’t a birder before, but “it really opened my eyes,” he said.
“I guess I’m a birder at this point,” Sanchez said. “I think I’m in the club.”
