Bittersweet Berries

Bittersweet is a classic example of the war in the hedge between animals and plants. In this case, the fruit is toxic to mammals, but a major food source for birds in winter. This is probably Oriental Bittersweet rather than American Bittersweet. The imported stuff has been in the US longer than most of our immigrant stock -- since at least 1879.

Cardinals and Blue Jays were feeding on these berries, but the small birds are hard to capture with my thick thumbs and slow camera.