catharus (purity of song) ustulatus (singed)
Sunday, May 18, 1980 — 1:40 pm
Des Plaines, Illinois — home
There was a row of bushes along the property line between our backyard and the backyard next door. There was also a large mulberry tree next to the shed. I put a bird bath under the bushes next to the shed, punched a small hole in a plastic milk carton and hung it over the bath. A drop of water would plop into the bath every twenty seconds or so, and it drew migrating birds like a magnet. I spent hours watching out the window and so got a chance to study and become familiar with a lot of birds that are hard to see well in the woods. I spotted this Swainson’s Thrush foraging on the ground under the bushes and splashing in the bird bath.