The mellifluent songs of wood thrushes fill the woods where I walk at the Mercer Meadows this time of the year, but it’s a rare day when I am able to spot one.
My luck changed Sunday morning. I began my walk from the parking lot at the Reed-Bryan Farm side of the park and eventually found myself on the trail that cuts through the woods connecting the Reed-Bryan side to the Pole Farm side.
Wood thrushes were singing with seemingly every step I took. Five minutes or so down the trail, I turned to my right and I saw a wood thrush singing from a tree branch roughly 30 feet away.
Not believing my good fortune, I started snapping away with my camera. The bird was facing to my left at first, then reversed direction. I was able to get several shots each way.
I had been holding my iPhone with the Merlin app recording when I spotted the thrush. I was so absorbed in training my camera on the bird that I forgot I was holding the phone. Eventually, I had the good sense to hit “save” on the app, and I’ve embedded the file below. You can hear my shutter clicking and a bit of my breathing.
I can’t recall shooting and recording simultaneously before, so consider this a rare opportunity to hear the bird singing while it’s being photographed. One of these days I should try shooting video! 🦅
The Jersey Birder 