A thrush safari

I birded today at midday during nappytime at Riverview Park in St Joseph. This is only 4 miles from my house, but a place I haven't visited all that often. Tim and I used to put it on the route in the late afternoon doldrums on big days, but eventually stopped going there as we never seemed to add anything. It became the-place-big-days-go-to-die and we started going down into the river bottom below my house instead, less convenient but more productive. It might get re-added this year though.

Today there were surprising numbers of thrushes in the mowed grass in areas well shaded by large trees, providing decent photo opps despite overcast light (when it wasn't actually sprinkling). This was the only veery I saw:

Here's a gray-cheeked thrush. I used to go years between seeing them in Washtenaw. I find them much less uncommon on this side of the state.

Swainson's thrush was the last of the thrushes to perch up for me today, but decent numbers were present. I heard one give at least a fragment of song.