Saturday, November 19, 2011

Varied Thrushes and some other Saturday sightings

Gregg Kendall turned up a Varied Thrush this morning at Mission Marsh in Thunder Bay and was kind enough to share his great photos.

[click on images to enlarge]


This morning Brian Ratcliff drove to Pearl, east of Thunder Bay, to observe a male Baltimore Oriole that's been visiting a feeder. Brian arrived to learn that the oriole was last seen on thursday, Nov. 17., and that another "orange-breasted" bird was in the area. Sure enough, a crisp male Varied Thrush appeared. Including Gregg's Mission Marsh bird, this makes three individuals reported through NWObirds this autumn.

We've seen activity pick up at our backyard feeders since the recent snowfalls. Today I scouted some of my neighbourhood feeders and I was pleased to find very late White-crowned and Harris's Sparrows. We'll make an effort to re-find them on the Marathon Christmas Bird Count on December 18th.


I also observed two Hoary Redpolls, in a flock of 50 or so Common Redpolls, feeding in a White Birch on a residential street in Marathon. Throughout the afternoon noon I heard flyover White-winged Crossbills, Pine and Evening Grosbeaks.

Acknowledgement: Thanks to Gregg Kendall and Brian Ratcliff for sharing their Varied Thrush photos.

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