As my fifth year of regular birding is underway, my skill at identifying birds has vastly improved. But I still often encounter birds that puzzle me and defy easy identification.
Case in point: this morning at the Mercer Meadows Pole Farm, I headed left off the trail from the parking lot, down the alley of trees where I spent the majority of time on my early walks before I gained a broader knowledge of the park. I was a good ways down the trail when I spotted a bird in the trees to my right.
Tufted titmouse? Maybe. A not-fully-developed-in-color Eastern bluebird? Well, I suppose it could be. The bird would settle for a few seconds on one branch, then, as I walked quietly closer, move on to the next tree or the one after it, settling in back where I had to strain through the branches to see it.
After a minute or two, the bird stopped long enough for me to get into position and squeeze off a few shots. I had not bothered with my binoculars other than an initial look, when I saw striping or spotting on the sides of the bird’s white breast.
Some sort of thrush? Could be, but I wasn’t going to rely on my two eyes and bins alone. I needed a photograph. After blasting off a few frames, I was confident I had a couple of decent shots that would help me definitively ID the bird when I got home.
Sure enough, the photos were sharp and clear enough to show the bird’s slender beak and obvious eye rings. Nailed it: hermit thrush.
As I have an affinity for small creatures, I do love the hermit thrush, a cutie for sure. I’m grateful to have encountered this one.
The Jersey Birder 
Nice. Here’s a couple of points: the only brown thrush you could expect in NJ in Feb would be a hermit. Also, tail is usually redder. Plus, they have an endearing habit of quickly raising their tails then slowly lowering them. Pretty cool. Peace.
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Good job, Dan. You nailed it. The reddish color of the tail even shows in the top image. Not always easy to see. 🙂
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