Breaktime Lifer

A quick walk to check out the MOST ridiculous robin nest today yielded a life bird for me. A couple of the facilities guys today mentioned that they had a robins nest on some fencing that they use every now and then. They asked us to come take a look because when someone needed it they would just dump the nest. We headed down to take a look and found one failed nest with one egg in it, another nest with 2 eggs in it that was falling apart and a stray egg on a different section of the fencing. This was a very strange nesting site, in a stairwell, on 4 pieces of plastic barrier that must have blown in the wind.

On the way back to work we took the long way and heard a new call for campus. It turned out to be a Warbling Vireo. Granted these birds aren't considered uncommon, and the song sounded rather familiar, it was still the first time I had officially seen this bird. We saw it fly down into a tree and I pished for a few minutes, turning up a Cedar Waxwing, American Robin, Bluejay, and a pair of Yellow Warblers, but the Vireo just kept his position and sang away. I refused to budge till I got a good look and patience was the key. Finally, this drab little guy popped out onto the end of a branch and hopped around singing for a couple of minutes.

I can't wait to see what turns up tomorrow!