A Walk in the Woods 1/5--Hermit Thrush

Another field trip was cancelled today due to inclement weather so I thought it was going to be yet another day of just monitoring the feeders. But, not surprisingly, the weather reports leaned a bit to they hyperbole side and the freezing rain that was going to turn all the roads into sheets of ice lasted about 10 minutes.

When the sun came out, I took a walk through the streets of Crestwood Village and on Congasia, veered into the woods to see how walkable the trails were. They were quite easy to walk since trucks have been back there and I just ambled along in their compacted tire tracks. The only birds I saw of any interest in there were lots of Golden-crowned Kinglets. I checked the pond of the WMA which is about 75% frozen over and there were no ducks or geese on it. It looked like the birding was going to be pretty boring today, but I continued on to the Crossley Preserve property and just as I was exiting at Congasia I saw my new bird for the year, a Hermit Thrush eating berries off a bush.

My friend Susan, who lives in the Berkshires (where winter is winter) took a walk in her woods the other day and posted some beautiful shots.  I can't match hers, but here's where I saw the thrush, at the entrance (or exit) of the Crossley Preserve, at the cul-de-sac on Congasia.