No Pain, No Gain.

     Sometimes you gotta tough it out, and as my birding buddy Jeana said today, "no pain, no gain!" The cold was painful today, with windchills below zero and actual temp in the single digits, we felt the pain, we made some gains!
     4 layers of pants, 2 pairs of socks, 4 layers of long sleeves, a hat under my new fleece full hood and mask, 2 neck warming items, 2 pairs of gloves, and boots that weigh a few pounds each-- I was ready! The cold and wind brought most birds close to the ground (good because I had so many layers around my neck, looking anywhere but straight ahead was hard), making for really great looks! While most others opted indoors, Jeana and I got some birds that made our trek and weathering the cold worth it!

YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!

More vibrant than I was expecting, an immature/female Varied Thrush, who has been in this park (Clove Lakes Park) since last December (2018).
And the reason why we are excited to see this bird is because its usual range is along the western coast from Alaska (mainly Breeding) down to the northern part of Baja California (winter range). This one took a wrong turn and ended up here. So this cold snap is probably not phasing it, since some do live year round in the southern reaches of Alaska.

Varied thrush are in the thrush family (good thing, with that name!), so they are related to American Robins. They are similarly shaped and sized, and follow a similar diet. They eats insects and grubs during warmer months and for winter, when invertebrates are dormant, their diet switches over to mainly fruits and nuts. This one was picking about at berries.

Hello!

Best views it gave us! Their belly is a bit more plump than a robin, they almost look like they have a pot-belly.

Right before it flew into some underbrush to forage.
Really thankful for such close and great looks at this beautiful bird! Very happy to have seen it to add to my life list!

I started taking pictures of floofy birds so I could dedicate them all to Jeana, because she has similar taste to mine- floofy birds are a favorite.
Here, a flooft mockingbird.
Why floofy? Well, when it's colder than you refer, fluffing up your feathers creates a layer of air between you and your outermost feathers, which acts as insulation and keeps you warm! Many birds had this look today.

A second bonus, a yellow-breasted chat!
(Also floofy)

This bird was at eye level, again, for great looks!
It remained low and when we left it, it went even lower down to the edge of the pond there, foraging on fallen fruits.

Yellow-breasted chat are not terribly out of the ordinary on Staten Island. I learned from another friend that they are year-round residents there.
This one seems to be doing fine, foraging on berries, fallen into the brush. Being in the trees today with the strong winds, not worth it.

A floofy male cardinal, foraging with a few females and white-throated sparrows nearby.

Another mockingbird, staying warm.

We were unable to find the bittern, but enjoyed this one of two great blue herons and a female belted kingfisher, fishing the area along the stream.

Making a b-line for the car, but one last photo, a red-bellied woodpecker.

Braving the cold = worth it!