Mystery Bird

[bcurrie100 at comcast dot net]

Well, hello all.  Kind of a la Tim Avery, here is a quiz for all of you
folks.  However, I don't know the answer.  This photo was taken at Red
Hills Golf Course in St. George on June 18, 2004 at about 1:30 p.m.  It
was just a little smaller than a flicker in size.  I have run this past
Kris Purdy, Bill Fenimore, Milton Moody who ran it past the records
committee and Dennis Shirley, and Charlie in St. George who has run it by
some his friends, one of which monitors Flickers and we have very
effectively ruled out that it is a flicker in any stage of its life.  The
only consensus we have is that it is a Thrasher.  Kris and I think it is a
juvenile Thrasher.  Too big for a Rock Wren as some have suggested (sorry,
just going to have to trust me on this).  Had I known it was going to be
this difficult, I would have taken a lot more photos.  There were three of
them in the immediate vicinity of Tee #2.  They did not call in the short
time they were there.  Complicating things is that I also was only there a
short time (i.e. about 1.5 hours), and saw them only towards the end of my
stay there.  Some golfers came along and scared them away, not to be seen
again (why there would be golfers on a golf course, go figure).  Each of
the three were on the grass as you see these.  They seemed to be in search
of food.  They were very active, though I never saw them actually get any
food.  When they flew, they flew to parts unknown.  They were only there a
brief time that I could see, a maximum of ten minutes.

Of the people who have seen it, there is one vote so far for a juvenile
LeConte's Thrasher, and this person has given their reasoning.  That
certainly fits the size requirements.  I won't say who it is so as not to
prejudice anybody's thinking.  I would appreciate it if you respond to
birdtalk and not to me personally just so that whoever joins in this can
gain the same information.  Oh, and we also have one vote for a Bahama
Mockingbird [but I won't tell you who voted for that! ; )].  I do have
four bird ID books and none have a juvenile LeConte Thrasher for me to
compare it with.

Thank you all in advance and a big thank you to all who have already
looked at it..  Sorry the quality isn't top notch.  For those who do
respond, please give your reasoning as to why.

http://www.pbase.com/image/32199637
http://www.pbase.com/image/32199636/original

Brian L. Currie

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