Ann, I can't for sure say about the beak, although the whole bird struck me as being a thrush of some sort. Picture our standard robin, smooth it all down so the back is a solid soft gray that extends to the head, there is some slight striping on the chin, the eye has a solid light ring around it, and the belly is a soft yellow-orange. Sleeker than a robin but about the same size. No big belly like our robins tend toward. The best match so far that I've found is a rufous-belly thrush (native to Brazil) but the eye ring was brighter and the belly more yellow.

Lin, thanks for the links, the phoebe was perhaps the closest match but not quite. I'll do some search online for general phoebe and see if anything pops up.

I plan to work outside today and will reload the feeders hoping whoever these guys are may still be hanging around. Camera in pocket. I rather like these little puzzles that nature throws at us now and again...

Another possibility is a Thrush: http://www.allaboutbirds.org/g...

Or how about this Warbler that's found in the NW: http://www.allaboutbirds.org/g...

Deb, to me it sounds like a juvenile robin, their breast colors have not yet developed and come in many shades, also they do have the striping under the chin and the a white eye ring.

Ah Margaret, I hadn't even thought of a teenager -- all the markings match up to a robin but are much more subdued. And, being juveniles, they would likely not have developed the big belly yet. That makes the most sense at this juncture. If so, they may well be back and I can get another gander at them. There were 3-4 together, perhaps from the same nest, all likely wondering 'what do we do, where'd everyone go, it's getting chilly...'

Margaret: You might have nailed it with the Robin.

Deb: Scroll down this page for a photo of a juvenile American Robin: http://www.allaboutbirds.org/g...

A couple more photo's:

http://www.google.com/search?q...

http://www.google.com/search?q...

and here: http://identify.whatbird.com/o...

I heard a hawk a few minutes ago and grabbed the camera. It was a Red-shouldered Hawk perched high in a Pine Tree:

Super shot!

Thanks ... it's a little grainy because of distance.

Lovely shot Lin.

Thanks Margaret!

New this year: a pair of Scrub-jays have been coming to the feeder several times a day every day for a few weeks now.
Also new this year: suet nuggets have been added to the feeder. it just so happened that they were added just before the jays showed up because I thought some of the migrants would like them.
This morning this one was being a real piggy - it actually had 4 nuggets in its mouth! You can see three - I wonder if they are "squirreling" them away somewhere for winter.

Great shot Angele, love the Scrub Jay ... and that feeder!

The Blue Jays here tend to be piggies at times too, especially when there are peanuts or peanut nuggets mixed in with the seed. This photo is from July 2011:

lol Lin, its a twin to mine, I just looked it up and Jays do "cache" food away. So smart!

Yeah, I've read that they stash food away and don't always remember where they put it.

Deb, try this link & look at the after hatch year birds & the hatch year birds -- the juveniles. And read what it says too.
http://www.migrationresearch.o...

Birds can have so many variations based on age, sex, location, even what they eat. I had a red tailed hawk here that I got a great photo of & *I* knew it was a red tailed but it had an all white chest - pure white. That's what threw me. My bird ID books showed something totally different & I hunted & pecked ( ) online like crazy. 95% of the sites I found did not match the red tailed I had. Then, finally, I ran across a couple of sites that showed the one I had & told of the blazing white chest -- it's a certain morph. Soooooo....... sometimes we have to dig deeper & deeper.

And take a look at this page about the "oddities"
http://www.migrationresearch.o...

the Scrub Jays!

Oh, those Jays are a smart bunch, both the blue & the scrub. Piggys --- YES!

I got a big surprise this afternoon when the Steller's jay came to the back door for his peanuts, a flicker came and sat on the rail too, luckily I was in reach of my camera, got a couple of shots before he flew off.

Oh, he/she is so pretty!

How wonderful Margaret! Peanuts for eve rybody

Coo, cool, cool, cool, COOL! Margaret! Maybe the flicker will get brave enough to beg for peanuts too. Do they eat peanuts? They must since they eat suet right?