Varied Thrush Visits

On Tuesday, the rainiest day of the week, Leslie told me there was a flock of birds in the backyard. I looked out to see a flock of Starlings, Juncos, Robins, AND a single Varied Thrush, a bird I’ve been looking for all winter and hadn’t seen yet.

I was sure it would be gone before I could run upstairs and get my camera, but I was wrong this time. Although most had disappeared, the female Varied Thrush was still there when I got back. When I saw her sitting in an empty bird bath, I decided to refill it, not expecting it to stick around. She watched me fill the bird bath and walk back in the house and cautiously hopped around the flower beds

as I took shots and readjusted camera settings trying to compensate for the lack of light.

Apparently satisfied that someone who would walk out and fill the bird bath on demand presented no danger, she proceeded to bathe

for the next five minutes.

Needless to say, it was the highlight of my day.

6 thoughts on “Varied Thrush Visits”

  1. A varied thrush in our UK garden would be more than a pleasant surprise – more a news story! We did used to have a huge flock of starlings that murmurated impressively. Sadly the flock dwindled to the point where it was no longer able to create those impressive shifting shapes in the sky,, although I get the impression it’s growing again, which is good.

    1. Here it’s considered “a problem” when flocks of starlings appear. They’re an invasive species.

      One of the best parts of birding is that there are totally different birds in different regions. England is certainly no exception to that axiom.

      1. I know what you mean about birds and regions. In a way, some birds people think of as “rare” are only rare where they don’t live (others really are, and that’s a cause for concern, of course). We get overrun by curlews, for example. I meet people who crave a sighting of just one!

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