Out here in the Belfair- Tahuya area we got a foot of snow from this latest weather event. It's forced everything into/onto the shoveled areas around my house. There are three pairs of Varied Thrush bold enough to come onto the deck and right up to the sliding door for food. Trying to keep areas open the past 48 hours has been a challenge so bird seed gets put under the roof overhang above the deck. Between them and the dozens of other birds (sorry, no mountain quail) I've gone through 20lbs of food in the past 2 days.

On the way into Belfair this morning we had to slow and/or swerve for all the varied thrush foraging on the roadsides. Appreciable snow fell down to sea level leaving very little open ground for the thrush to forage. They kept standing in the road or flying across in front of the car. I knew varied thrush were fairly common out this way but not to the extent I saw this morning. I imagine they'll all melt back into the woods once the snow is gone.

It took me a while yesterday to identify which birds were making a high pitched but fairly quiet trilling sound around the house. At one time there were few birds except the thrush so I narrowed it down to them. One usually identifies them by the loud ringing calls they make later in the breeding season.

One of the nice things about birding is learning something new just about every time you take the time to watch and listen to the birds.

Mary Hrudkaj
BelfairTahuya
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