Yesterday evening while walking the pavement and the woods along my road (in
rural western Athens Couty), I was delighted to stumble upon 2 Swainson's
Thrushes in the woods.  This was a life bird for me, and a fantastic sighting!  

The song is what caught my attention.  It was very quiet at first, but
became gradually louder.  I did not have any hope of seeing the bird as it
was under dense understory cover across the creek from where I was standing.
 Eventually it stopped, and I walked away to check out other birds in the
area.  Within a matter of minutes, however, the ascending flute-like song
beckoned again, this time much closer, and no longer on the other side of
the creek.  Movement betrayed the bird's location, and I was able to observe
first one, and then two of them for at least 20 minutes.  The hopped around
on the forest floor, up into the lower and mid-sections of the trees, and I
even saw some fly-catching behavior.  Having been skunked by a Mystery
Migrant Thrush some weeks back at a local park, I had already made myself
more familiar with what field marks to look for on the various migrant
thrushes.  Upon re-reading the field guide when I got back home, and playing
the songs, there was absolutely no mistaking these birds.  I got excited
when I saw a pair of them in the field (possible nesting pair?!), but then I
read that while they can persist into June, they do not nest in Ohio.

Also seen along my road yesterday evening where numerous Indigo Bunting
pairs (several carrying nesting material), a Yellow Warbler pair, and a
Common Yellowthroat pair.  Also heard our neighborhood Green Heron for the
first time this season.  Skeow!

Heather Aubke
Albany, OH

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