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As I walked across to a new colleague's office yesterday morning, I did a 10-minute diversion along the start of the campus nature trail.

It was so cold and blustery that most birds seem to be hunkered down. Several White-winged Doves and Yellow-rumped Warblers were huddled on the ground around the first small pond, while an Eastern Phoebe couldn't seem to decide whether to join them or to brave the cold and catch some bugs.

Things brightened up when a flock of about 100 Cedar Waxwings arrived and clustered in the tree tops. Some of them tried to feed on yaupon and other berries, but the wind was moving the branches around too much and most of the birds were content just to perch. A single American Robin was flying with the flock and looked very out-of-place among all the Waxwings.




It's a pity the Waxwings didn't show up in December. I could have used their photo on my Christmas cards.

Later, as I left my colleague's office to return to mine, I was treated to a close-up view of a Pine Warbler, year bird #60.

The amount of habitat on our campus is shrinking rapidly as the college expands, but it's still a great place to work if you're a birder!
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