A tiny groundhog surprise

The winter wren is one of North America's smallest and most energetic birds.

Not much larger than a humming bird, the winter wren is one of Southeast Missouri's smallest wintering birds.

It does not visit bird feeders. It spends its time searching the dark confines of ditch banks, undersides of rock outcrops and shadowy places such as hollow logs where it both roosts at night and hunts for insects such as millipedes and centipedes during the day.

The winter wren migrates to Canada for summer where it nests.

During winter, it may go as far south as the U.S. Gulf Coast.

Its constant flitting in and out of dark places on or near the forest floor makes this little bird a challenge to photograph.

On Groundhog Day, as it was snowing, I was surprised by this little bird as it flew out of the underbrush where it and its mate were being chased by a pair of Carolina wrens.

It landed about 20 feet up in a mulberry tree at a distance almost too far to photograph.

Through the Woods is a weekly nature column by Aaron Horrell. Find this column at semissourian.com to order a reprint of the photo. Find more of Horrell's work at the Painted Wren Gallery in downtown Cape Girardeau.