Sometime in the last year a pair of thrushes built a nest in a large fern on the varanda and raised four chicks. We enjoyed the initial lovely singing and nest building. The raising of the chicks involved more messiness and aggravated parents, who only scold and don’t sing while raising the nestlings. When the chicks had grown and flown, we tidied up the battered, half-dead fern and it regrew.

This month the same birds are back, having spent the last two weeks building a nest and singing pretty songs around it.

At our house in Connecticut a pair of birds, of a species I forget, built a nest in the same spot every year. Perhaps they weren’t always the same exact birds. The nest was on top of the bathroom exhaust fan, but despite the regular noisy use of the fan they built there anyway. It was very safe from predators.

One year a fledgling didn’t leave the nest with his brothers and sisters, but was flapping there, struggling. I climbed a ladder to see why, and his foot was entangled in some nesting material. I untangled him, but his foot was damaged from having the circulation cut off for a long time. I imagine he learned to take off and land with one foot. He flew fine.

Here are our local thrushes, pictures taken last time they nested. They are similar to the American Robin both in song and behavior. A touch more aggressive, maybe a bit larger, more muted coloration. They’ll eat anything when nesting – fruit, seeds, insects… I hide the feeding station around the corner so other birds can eat, too, out of their site.