Varied Thrush!

We've had another week of snow and below-zero weather. The bird bath, here on this shady side of the building, is frozen solid, no matter how often I fill it from the hot kettle. Except where we banged the snow off the rhododendron and the hedge, everything is under a thick, white blanket.
The birds will be hungrier than usual; our Lower Mainland birds aren't used to having their food sources buried.

I went shopping and forgot to buy bird seed; all I have left are the black oil sunflower seeds I special-ordered a few months back. And the juncos and other tiny birds can't manage those.

I scrounged through my cupboards. No bread. No cereal. No crackers. No fruit. I'm on a low-carb diet, but the birds aren't.

I found a jar of rolled oats. Ahhh! I added half a cup to the bowl I keep by the door (under the overhang, to keep the snow out), and kept watch. The juncos and towhees liked it. Good.

Today there was a varied thrush on the patio, tippy-toeing around the feeder bowl. We watched, barely moving; that was the first I had ever seen one come so close to the house. Usually, they scan the edge of the lawn, just beyond the hedge, then skedaddle quickly back into the underbrush. Shy creatures, they are. So we kept still.

He looked this way, that, this, that. Checked out that bowl from all angles. Scanned the area. And finally decided to chance it; he hopped inside and dug in. And stayed until he had eaten his fill.

A few minutes later, he was back with his mate. Less tentative, this time; both of them hogged the bowl, in turn, shooing smaller birds (a pair of fox sparrows, the juncos, a few smaller sparrows, the chickadees) away until they were done.

We didn't take photos; not and risk scaring the pair off, the first time they ventured so near. The photo here is from Wikipedia .

Googling "varied thrush", I learned that they are known to like rolled oats. So from now on, the ground feeders are going to be getting good "stick-to-your-ribs" oatmeal with their seed. (Wouldn't they like this; Molasses Maple Granola. Pumpkin seeds, nuts, fruit and blackstrap molasses. Yum!)