For several years now, about this time of year, I will sometimes hear a
croaking, frog-like sound at dusk. It moves around too fast to be a mammal.
It's too dry for it be a frog (and it moves too fast.) Yet, I would never
hear wing beats, just some rustling near the ground. The sound always comes
from near the ground or a couple feet up. It's always as the sun is setting
and the noise-maker always hangs around under trees, shrubs, or near the
deck. It has driven me batty for years, as it is tantalizingly close but I
am always racing the dark trying to find the source in the binos.



A couple of years ago, I got the briefest glimpse of bird with a robin
silhouette under the deck. Way too dark to see markings. I've never known
a robin to go under the deck. A Varied Thrush? They have a creaky spring
song, but does their song get reduced to a feeble croak this time of year?
Besides, I've never seen them in broad daylight on the same days when I hear
the evening croaking. So, I've been tentatively thinking Varied Thrush, but
still trying to confirm.



Well, I've been hearing the croaking several nights in a row now. Last
night, the bird (?) was moving all around near the deck. I heard a tiny bit
of rustling in the ground veg, but no wing beats (as usual). Spent 30
minutes straining to see something in the gathering darkness until it was
too dark to see anything.



This morning, I found the puppy chewing on a bird carcass she had found in
the yard. The only thing left were a few primary feathers, but they were
dark gray, orange, and white. A comparison to the wings at the museum
confirmed a Varied Thrush. So, I have conclusive proof of a Varied Thrush
within a few hours of the croaking. Does anyone know if Varied Thrushes
make a croaking sound this time of year in migration? I'm about 95% sure
that's what it is.



Kelly Cassidy

Pullman