[obol] A "Varied" Sort of Thrush This Year

[JohnPam]

Varied Thrush are here every winter. They spend most of their time on the
brushline or stirring up the needles and duff in the woodlot. Once in awhile
one will stray to the feeder area and eat cracked corn or hen scratch. They
seem much more wary of humans than their Robin cousins.

This winter, for the first time, a group of 4 has been coming into our
feeder area.  A neighbor's woodlot was full of them when I checked it for
Acorn Woodpeckers a few weeks ago. That seemed unusual. Maybe there are just
more of them this year, a bump in the population, and hunger is driving them
to our feeders? I noted a dead one when they first showed up in the fall
which might indicate they were already stressed.

John Thomas
5 mi N of Silverton