I didn’t want to go at first. I just couldn’t ignore those imploring eyes any longer. So, I donned my warm coat, hat and gloves, grabbed the dog leash, and together we headed out into the April Sunday morning sleet.
The trail through the woods was covered with hard-packed snow and tiny slippery iceballs. I wondered if the water pockets would be frozen, too, but I was pleased to discover they looked a lot more like a slush cone than an ice rink. That means the wood frogs and peepers that have already moved to their breeding ponds are safe — at least for today.
I thought maybe we’d just take a short walk, but as we traveled along, I became entranced with the sparkle off the leaves, the smell of the clean cool air, the noise of the falling sleet, and the quiet invitation to keep coming. “We have a surprise for you,” the woods whispered.
And sure enough — out of the corner of my eye, I caught glimpses of brown camouflaged thrushes sneaking through the forest, flying low, puffed up against the cold, searching for insects or seeds on the semi-frozen ground and along the sandy shores of Mill Brook. Not just one thrush — but many, many thrushes.
Are they Hermit Thrushes or Wood Thrushes, I wondered? I looked carefully at the spots on the breast and squinted to see the color of the tail, but it was difficult to catch in the dim light, from a distance, and without binoculars. But then I saw the flash of red, and I knew at once: Hermit Thrush. LOTS of Hermit Thrushes!
They must have just flown in last night. I wonder — will they stay in my woods and settle down, or move on with the next good weather? Back in my yard, I saw more. I pulled out my binoculars from the closet and looked closely at the beautiful head and back feathers, the multi-spotted breast, and the reddish tail bobbing up and down. They are shivering to stay warm.
Today the hardy thrushes don’t seem to mind the sleet, and in the end, neither do we. The Hermit Thrushes have brought light to our dull day.
