Meet Our New Neighbor

Samedh and I enjoyed watching half a dozen goldfinch pairs zipping around the back yard today during snack time. We also saw a number of starlings and mourning doves snatching up twigs and decorative grass clippings for use in their nests. We've set up a cozy spot in the dining area right in front of our slider door, which we refer to as our "sun room". While it's not an actual sun room, it certainly feels like one when you sit in a comfy chair right up close to the full window. Samedh often sits at his little table during snacks or meals, and can enjoy a full view of the various birds eating from the feeder on our deck as well as in the garden below. It's been a great way to teach him about the different species of birds who visit our yard. Now and then, we'll see a hawk fly through the back yard, or watch beautiful great blue herons fly over head.

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Just when you think you've seen just about every back yard bird there is, someone new shows up. This morning, out of the blue, a brown thrasher landed on our deck for a couple of minutes before disappearing into our garden. It stayed long enough for Samedh and I to get a good glimpse from the kitchen window, where I made a mental note of its size, shape and markings. Samedh's first impression was, "It's a hawk," simply because of its color and size. It was definitely larger than most birds who come to our deck, but it was not a hawk. I went straight for my Birds of North America guide book (an excellent bird identification book by Kenn Kaufman) to make the proper identification of this bird who was "new to us". In my mind I could clearly see the large bird who was reddish brown on top, striped below, and had a long beak and long tail. I quickly found its match in my book, a brown thrasher, who is also pictured above.

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Now we don't have a lot of trees in our back yard, but some of our neighbors do. We've been trying to change that over the years by adding blue spruce trees, arborvitaes, etc. Most of our resident nesters are mourning doves, house finches, goldfinches, robins and sparrows, but I hope that will change as our landscaping matures and offers more cover to other species. Maybe this brown thrasher was just passing through, but it was a real treat for us today. Makes us wonder who will be stopping by next!