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With Blake Mann

Varied Thrush at Rondeau Park

Tuesday, October 22, 2002

On Monday October 14, 2002 I spent the first part of the day birdwatching at Rondeau Provincial Park. The air was quite frosty, and there were lots of birds to see. I always start at the Lakeshore Rd. side of South Point Trail, as it is very open and catches the early morning sun.
A large number of sparrows had come in over night on their journey south. As well, several warblers and thrushes were present. About an hour and a half into my walk, I heard a "chup" sound that reminded me of a Hermit Thrush. It could not see the bird, as it was in the dense underbrush, but suddenly it flew out and sat on a dead branch. I was startled to see an adult male Varied Thrush.
It is a well-marked bird with orange and blackish-blue colours. It is just slightly smaller than a Robin.
The Varied Thrush (Zoothera naevia) is a western bird, found mainly along the west coast and inland a small distance. They are found in dense conifer forests. It is migratory, and has a tendency to wander widely. A few are found in Ontario every year, mainly in winter at feeders. The first recorded Ontario sighting was in 1963 in Toronto. It is a shy and retiring bird that eats mainly invertebrates, and sometimes berries and seeds.
The last sighting near here was in Port Franks in January 2001. This bird was coming to a feeder. The last sighting in the Rondeau area to my knowledge, was near Sleepy Hollow (east of Cedar Springs) on December 16, 1979. This was during the annual Christmas Bird Count.
This Rondeau sighting was my second of this species. I went to see a wintering bird at Storybook Gardens in London in 1993.