Spring Migrants & A Release

A visitor just arrived from the south- a Brown Thrasher. Saw something running around at the top of the hill that appeared to be too big for a sparrow, so ran and got the binoculars. Caught one of these (the picture is mine, but it's not the actual bird) foraging around underneath a bush, flinging twigs and leaves around. Most people take these for a Thrush of some kind- they're actually in the same family as Mockingbirds and Catbirds and aren't related to the true thrushes. They have the same tendency to sit in the undergrowth and mimic different birds, and thus are part of the mimic thrush family.

In other news, the little Brown Snake that was living in a plastic bin in the basement was released into the wild (our backyard) yesterday during an 85 degree day.