We're down to the bitter end in migration. The fall robins are all over the place in Minnesota. On the bike trails around town, the robins are so numerous, I can hear them over the sound of my headphones as I bike past. These tend to be more aggressive birds and I'll admit that it's fun to see someone who can bully starlings.

I was a little surprised to see a Swainson's thrush mixed in with the robins. We usually see other thrushes mixed in with flocks of robins, but this late it tends to be hermit thrushes. The bird was not a welcome part of the flock. The blurry robin in the above photo was on its way to making a sneak attach and chased the thrush off before I could get a better photo.

Robins totally dig all the fruit trees people plant in their yards, although many of the robins I find are raiding the buckthorn branches. I'm torn, I'm happy to see robins adapting to a source of food, but I also realize that they are laying the groundwork to plant more buckthorn that has been removed.