[va-richmond-general] Silver linings...

    I'm finally feeling better from what I thought was the flu that forced me 
to cancel the January 29 Rockwood Park birdwalk.  Sorry about that, and my 
apologies for those who might have come there and then found out I could not be 
there to meet you!
    Today was the first real day I've been able to come out of the house and 
resume normal life to any degree after having recovered from what was actually 
sinusitis and bronchitis (it wasn't the flu, ha!).  I was on Midlothian 
Turnpike by the Arboretum, as I stopped off to make a copy at Kinkos, and then 
was going to get a treat at Starbucks for a treat.  I'd parked by the outer 
spaces, near the road, and got out.  I heard sweet chirping, and it wasn't 
sparrows...I looked up at little buff-colored bird tummies.  I carefully got 
out of the car and angled around the 13-foot ornamental fruit trees to see....

    ....a flock of 20 Cedar Waxwings!

    I've never been close enough to see the detail of their crest, mask and the 
waxy sheaths on their wings without looking through binoculars.  Now, here I 
was, standing but 2-3 feet away from them, right under the tree, as they pulled 
the berries off the branches and swallowed them up!  I couldn't believe my 
luck...the flock sat up in the little berry trees, unperturbed by my presence 
and the traffic whizzing past on Midlothian Turnpike, and chirped to each other 
while snacking on fruit.  It was amazing!  They truly are gorgeous birds, and 
now that I have seen them so close up with my bare eyes, I think they have few 
rivals, say perhaps the Northern Flicker.

    I'd been hoping to see some Cedar Waxwings over this winter, but so far I'd 
not been lucky.  The weather was very cold and I'd stayed in, only coming out 
to check on and feed the resident goose living in our little community lake.  
Then I got sick for a week.  So now, here they were, eating and fluttering 
about, paying the nosey human only 3 feet away under their tree no heed at all.

    I got my wish - I got to see the Cedar Waxwings in winter, and they came to 
me in the most unexpected of places.  A hawk flew high overhead, and a gust of 
wind came; the birds swirled up from the trees like a little feathered dust 
devil and scattered down the parking lot and out of sight, like late autumn 
leaves.  There really are silver linings, afterall.

    Irene in Southside

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