This pair of brown thrashers were enjoying an early morning bath recently. They are not all that common a bird, but are a mimid (they mimic other birds or sounds) similar to a mocking bird. They
have a much larger repertoire of songs than a mocking bird, although it has been hard for scientists to quantitate just how many. They can continually change a song by a note or two with each repetition.
They have a bright golden eye and a long tail with brown striping on their breasts, a cinnamon-colored coat and a rather long decurved beak which is used to thrash back and forth in leaves looking for insects. Hence, the name "thrashers." My impression is that they are more retiring than a mockingbird, but that may be because I haven't seen as many.
Constant watchfulness is necessary to make sure these types of encounters do not elude you. Birds seldom announce their presence and they are easily overlooked unless you continually scan the area around you looking for something out of the norm - perhaps a movement or sound. Despite being close, I didn't hear them splashing around. But, my hearing isn't what it use to be either. It was their movement that gave them away. It is what I called "a tear in the fabric of the space-time continuum" in an early blog.
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