. . . And a Hermit Thrush
Later in the afternoon, while working in my office, I heard a White-throated Sparrow’s sweet song just outside the window, and the chips, tseets and chatter of several little birds coming to the seeds in the tray on the deck.
Then a familiar chrup, repeated, sounded close – and when I looked out the window, saw a Hermit Thrush standing on top of several inches of frozen snow piled up on the deck rail. It stood there for four or five minutes. It flicked its wings, raised the cinnamon tail and said chrup over and over again, and turned around in one spot very gradually, making a complete circle a couple of times, as if just checking out the world all around. It looked watchful, as always, but not at all agitated. Its spindly feet splayed out on the snow. Its plumage a warm, muted brown. I have not seen it come to the feeder on the deck, but maybe it was attracted by all the other bird activity. A White-throated Sparrow flew up and perched briefly beside it, neither bird seemed to mind the other. Then the sparrow flew away, and a few seconds later, the Hermit Thrush flew into the woods.