The Thrushes of Winter

It has been too long since my last post!  I have not really been up to too much exciting nature-wise lately.  Last week I was down near Belle River (Essex County) to look for winter raptors.  Today I was also down in the Cambridge area scoping out some Bald Eagles.  On both of these visits I had an encounter with a couple of thrush species.

In Belle River I came across this beautiful male Eastern Bluebird.  People often forget that bluebirds are a thrush and are in the same family as robins!

Eastern Bluebird

Eastern Bluebird

Today in Cambridge I came across an enormous flock of American Robins.  I counted around 140 individuals but I bet there were closer to 200!  They were attracted to the area by the abundant Hackberry Trees that were loaded with berries.  I was hoping for Varied Thrush or a Townsend's Solitaire (two rare thrushes which occasionally can be found at berry sources in winter).

mmm Hackberries!

How many Robins can you see?

I am planning on heading out somewhere to birdwatch tomorrow and will hopefully have some good shots of anything interesting that I find!

I got out on some of the trails around Fergus this afternoon to do some cross-country skiing and saw a my first Pileated Woodpecker of the year.

In other news, I will be heading to Costa Rica for a week in March with Caitlyn!  This seems to be the year to do it, as 2 other staff at NRSI are heading there too!  Pat is there now, Charlotte in February and me in March!