ML643058598

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***Rare, but not entirely unexpected given the quality of the habitat here and the ongoing fairly strong DICK season. A somewhat regular fall migrant along the New England and Mid Atlantic coasts, and admittedly strange pattern for this Great Plains inhabitant. Despite this, DICK are substantially harder away from the immediate coast, and an excellent species for the Rivertowns (Hastings to Tarrytown), where only three prior records exist (Hastings in 2022 and 2024, Dobbs in 2024). A species I have long hoped to get for the patch, with many hours spent listening for them in morning flight, especially this year. After seeing the habitat here yesterday, I knew DICK was a plausible species, but I certainly did not expect to get one less than 24 hours later. The West Meadow was popping early on at around 7:30, with tons of sparrows and others mixed in the grasses. At first, I thought the passerine that perched up on a grass stalk to be just another SOSP, but binocular-aided looks quickly revealed something much more exciting. The bird lacked the defined streaky breast of a SOSP, instead showing a white throat and a soft yellow bib extending down on the breast. Most prominently displayed was the hulking conical bill, and pale yellowish/white supercilium and malar were also noted. When the bird turned, it revealed black and creamy stripes on the back, and rufous shoulders. All these features could only lead to one conclusion--Dickcissel!!! The DICK was in view for a solid twenty seconds, allowing for an array of photos before it disappeared. The bird continued in the same area for the rest of the morning, with a handful of random sightings, and appeared magically when Vincent and Samantha arrived later around 11:40, perching mere inches from the BLGR in the same tree. Crazy that this wasn't even the outright highlight of the day, but I'm not complaining! New patch bird and a highly desirable one at that, #194 for Irvington and Dobbs! **Update, apparently TWO Dickcissels present here today. While I briefly considered this possibility today I mostly waved it off, but when Tom and Gail showed up later they were able to confirm the presence of two birds. Looking back at my photos, one does appear to have much more extensive yellow stretching down to the belly, while the first bird has a very limited yellow wash on the throat. Awesome!