It was unusually cold when I set out this morning to go shooting, about 18 degrees F (minus 8 C). I always worry about birds in the wild being able to survive when it gets this cold, but somehow they manage.
As I was walking along the boardwalk at Huntley Meadows Park, I spotted a bird in the distance bobbing up in a tree. I couldn’t figure out what was going on until I got closer and could see that the bird was reaching up to grab some red berries that were just above its head.
At first I thought that this was an immature American Robin, but the more I look at the photos, the more I think that it is probably a different bird species. I would welcome assistance in identifying this mystery bird that obviously was berry hungry.
UPDATE: Thanks to several knowledgeable folks on Facebook, I have learned that the bird is a Hermit Thrush (Catharus guttatus) and the plant with the berries is an American Bittersweet vine (Celastrus scandens).
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 