A Swainson’s Thrush was singing during my late afternoon walk in Shakerag Hollow. The song is an exquisite series of rising notes, seeming to overlap each other as they spiral up. He sang for several minutes, then watched me from a branch upslope. The photograph is taken from a distance, but his identifying buffy eyering is clearly visible. Swainson’s thrushes breed in Canadian forests, so this bird has many wingbeats to go before he reaches his summer territory.

Swainson's Thrush in Shakerag Hollow, Sewanee, TN