In all likelihood, this is probably the most famous photograph that I’ll ever take….

I went to Cannon Beach, which is on the Oregon Coast, over a long weekend in April 2024. I had a variety of things to do there, but one of my objectives was to take photos of the scenery: Haystack Rock, puffins, and a variety of sunrise and sunset photos.

At the advice of someone in a photography forum, I decided to go to Hug Point State Recreation site. There was a seasonal waterfall that she said was worth looking at. I went on my second day there, but there were a lot of people milling about near the waterfall, so I decided to go at dawn the next day, where I was sure to be alone.

When I arrived the next morning, the dawn’s early light was enough for me to see where I was going, but the sun wasn’t out by any means, and it could hardly be considered “bright” outside. I started to photograph the waterfalls for a few minutes, trying different compositions and shutter speeds. When I was done, I looked around to see if there was anything else worth shooting.

It was then I saw a little black bird standing on the sand between me and the ocean.

I’ve always liked birds, but I’m hardly a birder. Still, I thought this was a nice opportunity to see what I could do with this bird, so I started snapping away.

After about a minute, it flew to a nearby rock face, and after capturing a few more photographs, it left as quickly as it arrived. At the time, I recall being grateful at how cooperative the bird was: it just sat there patiently as I dialed in my camera settings.

Later that day as I was processing my photos, I got to the series that I took of the “little black bird.”  I raised the exposure of the photograph, and I immediately saw that it wasn’t a black bird at all, but rather, it had beautiful blue and chestnut brown plumage. I’d never seen a bird quite like that before.  My first thought was that it was some special kind of coastal bird, and that since I don’t live on the coast, I wouldn’t be familiar with it.  

I posted the picture to social media, asking for help identifying the bird.  My friend Marybeth passed my image along to her friend Alan.  Soon afterward, Marybeth messaged me and said that Alan wanted to know some information about the circumstances under which I photographed the bird.  I was confused as to why anyone would want to talk to me about some random bird, but when Alan got in touch with me, he quickly impressed upon me how shocking it was to see a blue rock thrush in our part of the world.

The blue rock thrush is common throughout southern Europe, northwest Africa, Central Asia, northern China, and Malaysia. Up until my photograph, there had only been one other reported sighting in North America (British Columbia in 1997), but that was dismissed by the relevant birding associations who track and adjudicate these sightings.

Immediately I was put in touch with folks from the Oregon Birding Association, who were all eager to hear details about this extraordinary find.  

Then, local media caught wind of my photograph.  First, a story appeared on the KOIN website based in Portland, OR (I’m a resident of Vancouver, Washington, just a few miles north).  I thought that it was so cool that local news picked up on the story, and that after this, things would return to normal.

The media, however, had other plans for me. 

Soon after KOIN broke the story, the Director of Photography and Media at the Eugene Register-Guard reached out to me (he also happens to be a birder!), and the newspaper ran a front page story on my photograph.  Then USA Today called.  Then I started hearing from other national news organizations and publications like The Guardian, Smithsonian Magazine, The Weather Channel, PetaPixel (a photography magazine), NPR News, Fox News, BSchool News (which is a news site for elementary and middle school students created by Encyclopedia Britannica), Yahoo! News, and others.  I officially made international news when The Times of London ran the story.  Dozens of news aggregators picked up on it, as well.  The photograph was even made into a meme that circulated the Portland area for a bit!

On the local television circuit, I made it onto KGW Channel 8 and KATU Channel 2’s AM Northwest.

At the time of this writing, there are two citations in Wikipedia’s blue rock thrush entry that lead to articles about my encounter.

Making a wonderful bookend to this whole experience, a producer from ABC’s World News Tonight with David Muir contacted me, and I appeared on the May 2, 2024 edition of that news program. 

Looking back on my experience, I feel such gratitude and fondness.  It probably doesn’t come as a shock that the photo of the beautiful bird is the wallpaper for my phone.

I look at the photo often.  I mean, I really look at it.  I’m in awe of the dignity that this tiny creature shows, not to mention the strength and determination to get here, however that may have happened.  It’s so far from home, and likely will never see or hear the song of its kin ever again.  As I look at the photograph, I find myself wondering:  What’s it doing now?  How does the local cuisine of insects and berries taste?  How do the songs of other birds sound to it?  Has it made friends?

This blue rock thrush will never know how much its presence excited and delighted the nation and the world.  I hope that whatever it’s doing, it has found the Pacific Northwest a hospitable home away from home with miles of beaches, stunning sunsets, lush forests, charming waterfalls, and countless people eagerly awaiting an encore appearance from the little bird so far from home.