Indian Plum

Observing birds closely gets us involved in variety of different aspects of nature.  For example, we are acutely aware of the leafing out of shrubs and trees, because the abundance of leaves make it much harder to see the birds.  We are made aware of the ripening fruit because we see the birds are feeding on the fruit as I have already posted about Cedar Waxwings feeding on cherries. The above photo is of ripe Indian Plums I took this morning while birding in the Dallas City Park. Indian Plum is a native plant. I always look forward to its early blossoms in the spring, but I can’t recall ever seeing the fruit in this dark ripe condition.  I’m guessing that in most cases the birds must harvest the fruit before it turns this dark rich color, perhaps there is such abundance in the Dallas City Park that the fruit actually has an opportunity to ripen.