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The varied thrush are one of my favorites! It took me years to identify them from their calls as well. I would often hear them when I was out walking in the woods, but could never spot who was singing. This year, they've come to visit my feeder twice - both times on the very coldest, snowiest...

I've noticed this too. I imagine the owls rolling their eyes when they get a good look at who's calling them. The ravens though - they're happy to investigate. You never know, the silly human might have snacks to share ;)

You'd have to ask @Josh about the wine...it was gone before I even knew we had an open bottle 😅

These videos were incredibly helpful - thank you!

That's beautiful! Steaming - why didn't I think of that?? As someone who sews every day, steaming the components seems like a logical jump, but it didn't occur to me. I'm excited to try again w/ my list of improvements - steaming, thread bump behind the eye, & sparser hackle. I might need to...

Makes perfect sense - thank you!

Thank you. I felt like there was too much material there...I'll try stripping one side of the feather next time.

Fair enough 😅

Thank you everyone for the warm welcome & words of encouragement! I see now why Josh likes it here so much 💗 Quick question, if anyone has any advice to offer: This is my most recent attempt at a reversed spider in the vice & my 1st below it for comparison. I like the look of the splayed...

You're right...I just tied my 5th & it already looks better than my 1st! I do love some good positive reinforcement.

Done! What colors? If I make you a shopping list will you run to the fly shop for me at lunch??

That's a great suggestion! There are so many flies that look like fun, it's tempting to jump ahead to a new one - but I suspect repetition is the key to proficiency. Maybe I'll sit myself down & make 5 more reverse spiders before I move on :)

That's a great idea!

Thank you! I've definitely started down the rabbit hole of fly tying videos. There's so much good (and not so good) stuff out there it's a bit overwhelming. I'll look for Davie McPhail's videos.

Hi Ben! Nice to "meet" you :) That's a gorgeous fly & I LOVE the earrings! I might need to make a pair for myself (once I get a little better at tying).

Thanks! The clouser minnow looks like it would be fun to tie!

Thank you so much for all the info! I'll see if I can track down some of those books :)

Thanks, that's very kind. I was happy with it until the very end - I botched the whip finish, so I'm not sure how well it would hold up to actual use. I learned a lot making it though!

Excellent - thank you!

That's good advice! I suspect I'm more of a "flies that catch fish" kinda person - though there are certainly some gorgeous "flies as works of art" out there too.