Last week I had the opportunity to go birding with Matt @birdingwithmatt & Heather @ncbirdnerd at Lake Benson in Garner, N.C. We saw Coots, Eagles, Ruddy Ducks and more, including a pair of dueling Hermit Thrushes.
Both of these birds displayed rather odd behavior given the time of year. One of them appeared to be begging for food from the other until the second bird had enough of the persistent antics of the first and started acting aggressively by puffing out its feathers and taking jabs at the other.

Then all of a sudden, both birds took to the air dive bombing one another over and over again until they both hit the ground rolling around in an angry bird ball.
Then they stopped, looked up and realized that they had fallen very nearly at my feet.
Both took off running through the leaves straight at Heather and I and blew past us in a full bird-sprint off into the woods!
Lol, crazy!

Sometimes confused with the Wood Thrush, Hermit Thrushes are buff toned brown bird with a smattering of dark spots on its breast. They are distinguished from other brownish thrushes by their reddish colored tails & wings and distinctive white eye rings.
These sweet birds are a whole lot easier to spot in the woods once the cold weather arrives and the leaves fall from the trees.
A relatively common sight here in the woodlands of central North Carolina, the is the only species of thrush which spends the winter in North America.
Truly a happy sight to see on a cold morning walk 🙂

Photos by @sally_siko of @birdwatching_nc
Canon 5Ds