Hermit Thrush

A sweet shot. I especially like the piney perch and BG. I would like to see a little catchlight in the eye though and possibly a bit more space on the right.

This is nice, Mike. I like the open bill, the bright eye, the pine needle setting. I understand Robert's comment about wanting a little more space on the right, but I can also understand cropping the way you did in order to not include a big block of needles on the right. I might try a 2:3 crop, taking some off the top and bottom to make it sort of feel like there's a little more room on the right.

Nice Michael! I like the pose and the BG is lovely.

Lovely image. I like the pine needles at various angles in the background-really makes for a lot of interest. I also like that the eye is not looking directly at the camera. It makes him look a little pensive.

Mike,

Looks straight out of an ID book... no nits from me.

Nice shot Michael, I like the pine habitat and the pose. I don't think however that this is a Hermit. It dosen't look brown enough and it dosen't have the rusty colored tail of the hermit. I don't see any rust coloring on this one at all so I think what you have here is either an Olive-Backed Thrush, or a Gray-Cheeked Thrush. I think this is the Olive-Backed but I'm not sure as their both very similar in coloring. The Hermit is more brown with a rusty colored tail. I just posted two photos in the past week of a hermit thrush that are in my gallery if you would like to compare.

Gary,

This was taken on Long Island where we really only see the Olive-backed (AKA Swainson's) and Hermit. It is doubtful it would be a Gray-cheeked Thrush and quite a few top birders from the area saw this and would have picked up on that. Based on the eye-ring I would agree it's a hermit. There is also a not enough yellow on the breast to be a Swainson's based on Peterson's field guide. I've been wrong many times before, so others feel free to chim in.

Pretty setting and a fine pose. Maybe just a little bit tight in the frame but it's a judgement call.

Nice pose and setting.

The Hermit is more brown with a rusty tail, the Wood Thrush has a rusty head, the Veery Thrush is cinnnamon-brown on the back with less spotting on the breast and anything else is either an Olive-Backed or a Gray-Cheeked. The Gray-Cheeked's eye ring is inconspicuous and the Olive-Backed's eye ring is conspicuous so I'll stick with the Olive-Backed.

P.S. I have a pretty good view of the tail in the photo I posted three days ago that's in my gallery.

Sweet setting Michael, love those pine needles. I like the pose of the Thrush and the slightly open bill. The work you did on the eye looks very natural. Nicely done

Lovely setting Michael and the thrush looks good. I like the open bill and I think this is framed just about right based on the needle clump to the right.

Very nice, Michael. I like the pose and the pine needle bg.

I agree that this is a lovely shot, and that it is a hermit thrush. I see a difference in the amount of rusty brown between the back and the rump, tail and primaries. The head and throat don't look buffy at all to me, as I would expect in Swainson's. Too much spotting on the breast for a veery. Too brownish overall for gray-cheeked. Just my opinion. I'd like to hear Rich Ditch or one of the other more experienced birders chime in on this one.

Very nice pose and I really like the needle background. Gives it a good contrast of texture.

Whatever species it is - I like it!

A very nice image, and unusual for any of the secretive thrushes.

I'm in the Hermit Thrush camp on this. Moving from NJ to AZ has taught me how much variation there is in the plumage of the Hermit Thrush, and how much the closely related thrush species can resemble each other. As Peter May points out there is definitely some contrast in the amount of red showing in the tail and rump compared to the back of the bird. Plus, I don't see any of the buffy yellow that I expect on Swainson's Thrush.

Sweet Photo Michael!!! Nice clean view!

Ken Archer

IMO it is a perfect crop any more to the right wold have been to much oof pine. Congrads!

Dan

Michael,
I love the pose with the open beak, the great detail and the setting too.