About an hour away from American Bird Guide, a large volcanic mountain rises
up out of the landscape. They tell us it's dormant...but, don't the experts
always say that? We'd been watching the rainy weather forecast for weeks,
and at last, we saw what we were hoping for: snow! In our neck of the woods,
snow is a rare treat (I realize that our birding readers in Wisconsin are now
say, 'please, come take some of ours.'). It's only every few years that we get some snowfall
in our valley, but the high mountain ranges receive their annual dusting, and
at 6 am this morning, we set off for Mt. St. Helena. Wrapped from head to
foot like Laplanders, we ascended the peak, and at about 1000 ft. we saw our first
snow.
Would you believe that we had the bird indentification highlight of our day the moment
we parked our car? In a lovely snowy glade beneath the pines, a Varied Thrush
was searching the ground for food. His bright orange coloration stood out brilliantly
against the white landscape. Did we have our bird watching binoculars? Of course
we did! We held hands excitedly. This sighting of the Varied Thrush was a first
for American Bird Guide!
The Varied Thrush, (Ixoreus naevius) has a slender, somewhat tapered appearance.
It is about the size of an American Robin, but slimmer, and by coincidence, it
shares winter feeding grounds with the American Robin. There was, in fact,
a Robin just feet away from where the Varied Thrush was hopping about in the
snow. The Varied Thrush lives in the open coniferous forests of the West, from
Alaska to Northern California. It's a ground feeder and subsists on earthworms
and insects. Its tangerine-colored throat and breast contrast beautifully
with its slate grey upper parts and creamy belly. Particularly distinctive is
the broad, black eyestripe. Females are somewhat duller in colour. Its call
is buzzy sounding.
The Varied Thrush lays 3-5 spotted blue eggs in a twiggy nest in a low bush
or tree. It migrates to winter lowlands in California. I'm guessing the one
we indentified wasn't as happy about the snow as we were! Apart from the American
Robin, the mountain top was playing host to numerous Juncos. The Junco is
an old friend of ours because it is so widespread in practically all the habitats
of Northern California.
Our chance to watch this beautiful thrush was brief. After just a few minutes,
it flew away, but the image of it is burned on my brain and has, of course,
already been entered in our personal birding log. Do you keep a birding diary
of your own? We highly advise it. It's a wonderful way for you to keep track of
which birds show up in which regions at various times of the years. The Varied
Thrush is an incredibly great addition to ours, and we will return to the mountain
top next year, in hopes of seeing him again!
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