I then hit Afton and decided that since the trails sucked I may as well go off trail and hike the creek corridor. This proved fruitful as I found several Hermit Thrush trying to scratch out an existence on the creek bed sandbars that were exposed. One came very near my location as it looked for bits of meat to pull from the waters edge. This was very new behavior for me on Hermit Thrush and perhaps indicates an extreme lack of available food in some areas for this only semi-hearty Thrush.
I soon also had a pair of Golden-Crowned Kinglet whirl by my location as they bounced between branches like children hopped up on sugar. The odds of my camera landing on them were near zero so I kept my focus on the Hermit Thrush instead.
The following day I returned for the same hike and found a total bummer in a Hermit Thrush in the snow passed away likely from starvation/hypothermia. A sober reminder that these kinds of large spring storms will stress early arrivals. Birds like American Robin can vary their diet heavily and Hermit Thrush will as well, but I have seen at least 3 other birders post dead or nearly dead Hermit Thrush photos to various social media pages. They live and die on the edge trying to get back to breeding grounds to establish territory before it is claimed. The earliest often run into very challenging circumstances.
A nice pick me up after the Hermit Thrush was my first of year Winter Wren chattering and sitting still giving me the business for several minutes. I was able to rattle off many pictures as the bird bobbed up and down to let me know it was fit and capable of defending it's downed tree and debris zone.
I love finding Winter Wren as they show up nice and early in the migration cycle and you often have to go find them in very specific habitat. Winding creek corridors with leafy debris and downed trees/limbs have been the best for me in spring.
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