Hermit Thrust et al

During the week of Christmas my wife and I traveled to New Mexico and birded the Bosque del Apache NWR south of Socorro and the Randall-Davies Audubon Center on the outskirts of Santa Fe. I had intended to publish some of the photos I took while on the trip but I had such a remarkable day on Monday, 1/3 that I’m postponing posting the New Mexico photos in favor of showing some that I took in the neighborhood.

As a little preamble the area had its annual Christmas Bird Count (for 2010) on 1/2/2011. I had a lackluster day but during the course of the count I encountered a holly tree full of berries… and American robins. We’ve had a several day run of clear (but cold) weather and I returned the day after the count to photograph the robins eating the holly berries. I probably took at least 20 photos of a robin in the holly tree. 

While I was monitoring the holly bush I noted what I thought was a Fox sparrow about 30 feet away. Not having taken any Fox sparrow photos with my new camera I decided to shift my focus (no pun intended). After changing my position in my car I looked up to see what I thought was the Fox sparrow only about a dozen feet from me. What luck… I didn’t even have to move the car!

I began taking photos of the new bird but as I got further into the task I realized that the new bird didn’t look exactly like a Fox sparrow… and I realized that it was a Hermit’s thrush, a bird I have seen in the PacNW only a handful of times, and even then not in photographable situations. I took probably 20 photos of the Hermit thrush in full light and only about ten feet from the car!

I then realized that there was yet another bird in the area where I had seen what I originally thought was a Fox sparrow, and upon closer examination I realized that this second bird was indeed a Fox sparrow! At this point I moved the car forward about 20 feet and began trying to photograph the Fox sparrow, but it proved elusive. However it was soon joined by the Hermit’s thrush and I was able to view (but not photograph) the two birds virtually side by side!

As more time passed I photographed a male House finch and a Song sparrow at the same location, but missed (due to hyperactivity on the part of my potential subjects) a Bewick’s wren and a Ruby-crowned kinglet… with its crown showing. It was a great morning… but stay tuned for photos from New Mexico!