Varied Thrush!

Hi all,

1/28

Today, my dad, brother, and I went to chase a Varied Thrush that was seen in Evanston. If you read the last sentence of my last post, you would know that I had this bird on my brain. Since I, like most kids, have school, I could only chase it late in the afternoon. I was a bit worried as the finder, Jason Kay, said that the bird was most often seen in the morning.

After a long drive from school to the thrush, battling Chicago traffic, we finally got to it. We walked up to Jason's house and talked with him. He said that people have been seeing it from the alley, so we went back there. The second I stepped out into the alley, I saw Andrew Aldrich and Shawn Pfautsch waving me over to them. I walked right to them and they had it perched up in the top of a tree. It stayed that way for 20-30 minutes. It later took off and didn't come back, though we didn't see where it flew too. We decided to make like the thrush and get out of there :p

While we were there, we heard an interesting report from one of the neighbors. She said that the thrush comes to her backyard sometimes, but with a friend. She said that there is a male AND female Varied Thrush in the neighborhood! If you are going for the thrush, be on the lookout for the female, as only the male has been photographed so far. The neighbor did say that she sees the male much more often.

Tips for finding it: First, tell Jason that you are coming. His email is: jasonbertkay@gmail.com. He will give you the address. Once there, go to the alley. It is easy to see the feeders from there. I would recommend to watch the trees more than the feeders though, as the thrush spends more time in the trees. It can be completely still and fairly hidden in the trees, so scan carefully. Again, Jason recommended the mornings, so I would follow his advice. Good luck for all of those that try for it! And of course, the biggest thanks goes out to Jason and his hospitality.

86. Varied Thrush