** Reply to note from Michael Brown

> This morning I was at Magnuson Park with an old friend I hadn't seen in
> years. In such situations birds become secondary, but I spotted a bird which
> got my attention. It was about the length of a Fox Sparrow or Hermit Thrush,
> and what I really noticed was the very rusty tail, rump area, and eye ring.
> I have only seen a Hermit Thrush once before, and it had to be pointed out
> to me. But today my immediate impression was "Hermit Thrush?" I had no idea
> of size or shape of bill or much else for that matter. It gave me a very
> poor look-see.

Sounds like a Hermit Thrush to me. "Rusty" morph Fox Sparrows do not have an
eyering that you would notice in a brief glimpse. The way you wrote the above
suggests that perhaps the eyering was also rusty but this is open to syntactical
interpretation. This would be atypical of Hermit Thrush which usually has a pale
gray eyering.

> Is a blackberry/broom thicket likely habitat for this species?

You bet. And during migration, they can be found in any type of thicket. Of course, being
the mild winter it has been so far, this could as easily be an overwintering bird as a migrant.

- Jack


------------------
Jack Bowling
Prince George, BC
jbowling at direct.ca