First Summer Bird! (Yardbird #24)

I slept a bit late - still slogging through the fatigue - and was fumbling around in the kitchen for my tea when I spotted the bluebirds sitting on one of the nest boxes.  A very nice way to start the day, I must say - tea and a bluebird song.

I settled down for a nice long chat with my parents and as we were talking, I happened to glance out the window and spotted this Brown Thrasher in the cherry tree.  Mad scurry for camera while also juggling iPhone and giving my parents a running commentary (they are used to this).  Crept ever closer to the window, lens poised and ...gotcha!  He landed on a perch easily visible through the window and I was able to fire off a handful of shots before he flitted over to a suet feeder.  It's very early for me to see this bird - the earliest I've ever recorded it in our yard was 24 April, so he's about 3 weeks earlier than usual.  Last year, for the first time, a pair nested somewhere on our property so I'm hoping perhaps I'll get lucky again this year.

Brown Thrashers are in the Mimidae family, along with Gray Catbirds and Mockingbirds.  Like Mockingbirds, they are mimics and some individual thrashers have been known to have over 1,000 songs in their repertoires, including many songs that they've "stolen" from other bird species.  They rend to repeat each song/phrase twice which is an excellent way to ID them if you can't see the bird but can hear it singing.  Mockingbirds repeat each phrase/song 3 or more times - another great "tell".  

I am on my last SD card from Arizona - the one with the most photos on it, alas.  I got through one day's worth of photos today.  Well, actually I am still tagging them and doing a final sort.  And, with each photo, I'm smiling as I remember where I was and who I was with.

Had a nice visit with MIL today.  She was napping when I got there, but I woke her and we chatted and laughed.  She was just being seated in the Dining Room for lunch when I left.

It rained much of the day, so a good day to be indoors.  Tomorrow should be nicer, so I hope to get out for a bit - all depending on how I feel.  
Thanks so much for the many kind comments on my bluebird yesterday.  I suspect you'll be seeing a lot more of them as the nesting season gets underway.

xo
Debbi