I have seen a Varied Thrush in the early morning for a month or so. I thought at times it was a male but other times was sure it was female. This afternoon a female spent some time helping the sparrows get rid of some scratch feed, giving me a chance for a photograph. While I was doing that I noticed the back on one of the sparrows was brighter than the Golden-crowned Sparrows around it and soon realized it was a White-throated Sparrow. Of course I took pictures of it also.

Besides those and the usual chickadees, juncos, sparrows, finches, downy and flicker, jays, kinglets, and butter butts, I had a couple of Red Crossbill along with a couple Pine Siskins join the House finches for a bath.

Every now and then when I start thinking about how dreary it is in the winter, the sun comes out and the great variety of birds we have in the area put on a show. It makes for a great day.

http://www.pbase.com/jvhigbee

Joseph Higbee
Spanaway, WA
Mailto: jvhigbee at hotmail.com