How the West Was Won - Led Zeppelin

The relatively small city of

 OMAHA, NEBRASKA

is unlikely to spring to mind when thinking of the USA as a whole.

Its distinction probably lies with the excellent

 (just one exhibit)

 or

 but much more likely the incredible exhibition of

 Life Size

 'BRONZES'

 tastefully placed around the town.

 

 On arrival I immediately dubbed this fabulous spectacle

 'How the West Was Won'

 Just gaze at those faces!

However, during the wanderings of recent days through a fairly extensive archive of World Bird Photographs, one species has stood out among the others 'for reasons as follow'. Not a remarkably colourful bird the

BROWN THRASHER
(photographs taken in Omaha, Nebraska)
((State Bird of Georgia))

somehow holds a mystique for me and probably many other 'birders' in Great Britain as well. Not at all a 'rare' species in its homeland, mainly the United States of America, where it is by and large confined to the east of the Rocky Mountains, but is a 'skulker' often difficult to see. Of the many dozens I must have seen during extensive travels in the USA the one shown was, without a doubt, the most obliging and seemed worthy of more exposure. Back in the UK there has only ever been a single documented record and that is where the mystique to other 'birders' here comes in. Known as a 'blocker' in birding circles, there cannot be that many who have this enigmatic bird, which lingered in the Durlston Country Park, Dorset from 18th November until 5th February 1966, on their GB List including myself! Of this 12 inch long beauty Doctor George Green in his comprehensive reference work 'The Birds of Dorset' notes, On some occasions this bird could be very skulking, but on others it took little notice of observers and could be watched at close range. It was trapped, ringed and photographed on the 23rd November. The Brown Thrasher breeds in Central and Eastern North America from Southern Canada to the Gulf of Mexico, and winters in the Southern half of this range.

This post has been part of the thought process for a month now, so coincidental that the 

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