My goodness, what is this hanging off of my suet feeder? He is way too big to be balancing up there. This first photo is not the most flattering, but it did catch my attention. I see that he is a big bird, larger than the downy woodpecker that usually visits, but closer in size to the red bellied woodpecker.
But he/she is not a woodpecker. He stops for a brief moment to shake off the cold rain. He is a rich rusty brown color.
He has bright yellow eyes with a determined look and above he appears to be long and thin...yet...
here he is thick and ball shaped. This is what makes birds hard to ID unless you watch them for some time.
This photo above, in better focus, reveals his more normal shape. It is the brown thrasher, which is most often seen 'thrashing' about in the leaves and looking for bugs under them. Because of his coloring and the fact that he stays low under bushes he is often hard to see. He has the most interesting song which can be
heard here. (Scroll down to the middle of the page in that link.)
OKAY, I will put the camera down and back away!
