Brown Thrasher

It's another gray, cold New England Spring day with a high of only 46 degrees.  Let's not forget to add in cold rain too.  Brrr.

Just prior to leaving for lunch today, I had a nice Pine Warbler in the tree out front.  It didn't stay long....

After receiving a tip from a birding friend, I headed out to attempt to add an American Kestrel to my bird list.  Success!  I saw a pair of them quite close, but before I was even out of the car, they flew off and perched on distant trees.   Still, I had good looks with my binoculars and also got to watch them in flight several times.  The light was terrible for photos, and it was sprinkling rain most of the time, so forgive the poor photos.

American Kestrel (male)

In the meantime, I saw and heard another life bird, a Brown Thrasher.  It was singing and squeaking and making a variety of noises that reminded me of a Northern Mockingbird.  I guessed it to be a Brown Thrasher and was able to confirm it in my bird guide once home again.

Brown Thrasher

I walked a bit across the field and noticed about 8-10 Savannah Sparrows foraging in dried grassy areas.  Most of them flew off, but one was bold and stayed for a photo shoot.

Savannah Sparrow

On the way home, I spotted some Cedar Waxwings eating the remaining fruit on what I assume to be a crabapple tree.  I can't believe that last year's fruit is still edible!  Again, the light is terrible, but they are one of my favorite birds, so I just had to stop!  I was actually able to get quite close, but these trees are right next to a very busy intersection, and a noisy truck came through and flushed them.

 Cedar Waxwings

Birds seen:

American Kestrel
American Robin
Blue Jay
Brown Thrasher
Canada Goose
Cedar Waxwing
Eastern Bluebird
Mute Swan
Northern Flicker
Northern Mockingbird
Rock Pigeon
Savannah Sparrow
Song Sparrow