Time for an afternoon nap.

Mid-summer afternoon nap. Brown Thrasher [Toxostoma rufum]

Brown Thrasher [Toxostoma rufum]

Brown Thrasher [Toxostoma rufum] New Hatchings. Our eyes are closed, but we’re still hungry.

Brown Thrasher, Toxostoma rufum

Brown Thrasher [Toxostoma rufum] nest & eggs inside my Grapevine.

Brown Thrasher [Toxostoma rufum] nest & eggs inside my Grapevine.

Strange nest in the wishing well

The building process took the mother bird a while and at one point, we thought she had given up. Not so. I’m always amazed with the design and materials used.

Babies in the wishing well

Momma bird build a very strange nest in the wishing well where I usually put flowers but hadn’t gotten to it this year. She laid 3 eggs and sat on them for what seemed like a long time. This is right off our back door and we have enjoyed watching and taking pictures of the whole thing. The parents are beautiful and very good care givers. We have been bird watchers for years and this is the first I have seen the Thrasher much less have them entertain us for the summer.

Brown Thrasher Fledgling and Parent

This spring I was fortunate enough to watch a Brown Thrasher family in a local Master Gardener public garden. I first notice two fledglings in the undergrowth and one of them seem to be very interest in me. A few minutes later, the fledgling flew up to a branch in a small ornamental tree and one of the parents joined it. The dappled light through the young leaves gave me enough light to get this photo. If you look closely, you will see some type of insect in the parent’s mouth. The parent flew off and the fledgling hopped around the tree limbs and would check me out every time he moved. I was sitting on a bench about twelve feet away. I think we both enjoyed the moment.

brown thrasher babies

Cornell Lab of Ornithology

Cornell Lab of Ornithology