Varied Thrush!

There's no escaping the ugly fact that you've missed a great bird these days! Word just came straight through to me, via email of a FIRST for Cape May County - and I'm in the UK!!

Kudos goes to the well-deserving Pat & Clay Sutton for a superb male Varied Thrush that visited their backyard  feeders for the briefest of moments on Christmas Eve. And double kudos to Virginia Retig for being the finder and for spotting the bird from Pat and Clay's kitchen table!! Though some local birders have scoured the area, the bird has not been refound and currently it is presumed to have passed all too quickly through. If the bird should be refound, news will be put out, but for now, birders are asked to respect the privacy of locals over the holiday season.

What a wonderful find and species number 214 for Pat & Clay's wonderful wildlife garden. Though there are a number of records of this West Coast species in New Jersey, this is the first for Cape May County - and some would say long overdue...

Male Varied Thrush, Cape May County, December 24th, 2010 - nice one Virginia!