Several expert birders have said that a Swainson's thrush should still be in Columbia. Unfortunately, I did not get a photo nor did the bird sing. When I first saw it before putting the binoculars on it, I thought briefly of a thrasher. However, the beak, the tail, everything was wrong for a thrasher. I pondered long and hard about a hermit thrush, but the tail was not reddish; it just blended into a grayish brown back. Still, that's a distinct possibility. It might have been a drab hermit. I spent some time staring at Cornell's look-alikes, and Swainson's seemed to be the best match. I'll defer to the experts and qualify the id as possibly a hermit thrush.
It was on the spur road leading to the Marshall Lake barricade off Road 66 (which is south of the Marshall road) in Boulder County if anyone wants to look for it. There's an extra treat in that area—many meadowlarks were madly and merrily making music.
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