A most challenging bird

This photo was taken yesterday, 25 February 2016, when I called in at Fish Creek Park to see if I could get a better photo or two of the beautiful Varied Thrush that has been hanging around the area. The bird was there, but spent pretty much all its time deep within the conifer trees and a tangle of dark undergrowth. If the bird was on the ground and happened to move into slightly better light for a split second, it was mostly hidden by endless tiny branches. Most of the time, the view was far worse than in this photo : ) However, the Thrush did spend a few seconds on one of the mainly hidden fallen trees and two of us were lucky enough to see it without any branches in the way. Managed to get my best photos of this bird and will be posting one of them soon. When I say 'best', I mean that the bird was close and clear, but the light still wasn't good and the photos are rather grainy, unfortunately. Such a gorgeous bird and a real privilege to see it while it is here.

"The Varied Thrush’s simple, ringing song gives a voice to the quiet forests of the Pacific Northwest, with their towering conifers and wet understories of ferns, shrubs, and mosses. Catch a glimpse of this shy bird and you’ll see a handsome thrush with a slaty gray back and breast band set against burnt-orange breast and belly. Common in the Cascades, Northern Rockies, and Pacific Coast, Varied Thrushes forage for insects in summer and switch to berries and seeds in winter.

Varied Thrushes hop on the ground or low in shrubs and trees. They eat mainly insects and other arthropods in the summer and switch to nuts and fruit in fall and winter. On breeding territories, male Varied Thrushes sit on exposed perches to sing their haunting, trilling songs" From AllAboutBirds.

www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Varied_Thrush/id