Thrush migration over southern Michigan, evening 9/26-27

[Dave Slager]

Just got back from a Kent County hilltop near my apartment where I
spent from 10pm-11pm listening to night migrants flying overhead.  If
you're going to go out and listen for night migrants this fall, this
might be the night to do it.

During that hour, the sky was noisy.  I heard a thrush call, on
average, every 2-3 seconds.  Lots of times there were several birds
calling at once, overlapping with each other and obscuring their ID.
Intervals of more than 5 seconds without hearing a bird were rare.  I
estimate that at least several hundred, quite easily much more,
individual thrushes must have gone over during that hour, and they
were still going over when I left.

They were mostly Swainson's Thrushes but I also heard 20 or more
Gray-cheeked Thrushes and at least a couple presumed Hermit Thrushes.

Also heard going over:

4 Green Herons
1 Killdeer
10-15 warbler and sparrow "zeep"/"seep" calls

If any of you get this while it's still dark, it'd definitely be worth
a listen.  The radar seems to indicate the most movement in our region
occurring in southern Michigan, Indiana, and Ohio tonight, rather than
points further north.  I'll post a few radar images on my blog in a
little while.

Good birding,

Dave Slager
Grand Rapids, MI
http://empidonax.blogspot.com/