California Thrashers (toxostoma redivivum) are very common here, and yet they're a bit of a challenge to photograph. The problem is that they're constantly moving, usually on the ground, with quick, jerky motions that require quite a high shutter speed to capture. This one spent a little time foraging for bugs in the bark of a flowering plum, and then decided to perch for just long enough to fluff up and preen, and for me to take a few pictures.
In the left hand picture, especially, this one looks sort of odd. Normally the thrashers are sleek and buttoned-down, but this one has let it all hang out <smile>. A few seconds after I took these pictures, he hopped down to the ground around our cracked corn feeder, and commenced scratching about a furious pace — and despite the fact that it was but a few feet away from me, I was unable to get a single picture of it. I just couldn't aim and focus fast enough to keep up!
As usual, click on the photos to get a larger view...
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