Well, we went on the last regular bird trip of the year with Beckham Bird Club last Thursday, and here it is Sunday night. If I don't sit down and do this post, it will be after Christmas and too late to mention it, so here goes. Bernheim Forest and Arboretum is always a beautiful place, but when the weather turns cold, it's easy to just stay home instead. We dressed in all our warm clothes and drove on out in the early morning.
Anything that hadn't moved during the night was covered in a heavy layer of frost. The grass and evergreens seemed to have a dusting of snow as we entered the front gate. Fog rose in lazy swirls from the surface of Lake Nevin.
We saw no spectacular or unusual birds, but the Robins and Blue Jays were spectacularly abundant that morning, chowing down on any berries hanging on a tree.
As the sun warmed the air a bit, more birds came out in search of breakfast.
We five birders and the birds at the feeders were the only visitors at the education center...
...but we had had a wonderful time. The Turkey Vultures didn't take to the air until almost 11:30. Guess there weren't any thermals until that late.
I love finding frost flowers in a shady spot. Sap in the stems of some plants will burst through the stem itself, and then freeze in amazing swirls.
The Cedar Waxwings came out just as we planned to return home at the end of the morning, whistling softly above us. This week is the Christmas Bird Count at Otter Creek, and I hope we see more for the count than we did on this day.
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