Beginning about 6:26 this morning, during a morning walk with the dog, I
began to hear numerous calls of Swainson's Thrushes, then Hermit Thrushes
(with one Veery and about a dozen Gray-cheeked Thrushes), overhead in the
dawning sky. By 6:48, the calls had ended, suggesting that the birds had
completed their pre-sunrise descent after a night of migration. I had been
out since 5:50 and had not heard anything but the occasional sparrow call
note, so it was great to hear several hundred thrushes go over like this, in
such a short time period. I think one reason we see so very few Catharus
thrushes in reverse migration at Sunset Beach, to the south, is that they
descend from migration earlier in the a.m. than other migrants. It was very
surprising to hear so many Swainson's calling (22 October!) so late in the
season; I have not heard this many Swainson's so late in the season since
the mid-1990s. In addition to the thrushes, at about 6:38, a flight of House
Finches passed over. Their migration in the East is little studied, but we
do begin seeing reverse flights of them at this time of year.
Ned Brinkley
Cape Charles, Va.
