Dear all,

This will seem like a small victory to most of you, but my Christmas present came a couple of days early this year.

On Dec. 23 I looked out on the porch, and there, rooting through the dead leaves, was my first confirmed, no-doubt-about-it VARIED THRUSH, a female.

She's absolutely gorgeous, and she's been back a couple times a day every day since then. A couple of times she's even brought a male around, and he's pretty spectacular, too. Makes you grateful for the small things.

Nick Pharris
Olympia, WA