Usually when I see a Brown Thrasher (Toxostoma rufum), it is buried in the underbrush, so I was excited to spot this one in the open during a visit on Tuesday to Green Spring Gardens with my friend and photography mentor Cindy Dyer. Two things that always stand out to me whenever I see Brown Thrashers are their extremely long tails and their beautiful yellow eyes.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 
They are a wonderful bird! I’ve seen one in a pocket park in midtown Manhattan!
I am always amazed to hear of the diversity of birds within the city–I tend to think it all sparrows and pigeons. 🙂
I did too before I started working there!
Lovely photo! It almost seems like the bird is blending into its perch there. Great capture Mike.😊
I love this bird! 🙂
Blue Rock Horses Frederick County, Virginia bluerockhorses.com
Beautiful plumage and it has whiskers next to its beak!
Only a bird photographer would notice details like the whiskers. 🙂 Thanks, Chris.
One of my favorite birds!
Terrific photograph, Mike. Like you, I usually see them in dense cover.
It was a pretty lucky shot, Wally, especially considering I was shooting with a 180mm lens at the time. 🙂
I was searching to find out why I’m seeing brown thrashers in the open this year in Georgia, I’ve never seen one in my life and they’re literally running in the road, across the yard, even fighting each other in my front yard all day now for over a month. So strange.
Not sure why, but each year seems to be a little different from the previous ones.