Last week I was at the pond in the park near work

photographing damselflies. I had been noticing one

or two birds flying above the pond feeding on insects for

weeks and while they did not look like swallows I never got a

 good look. But now there were lots of them, all nesting on

a  small island. A closer look and I realized they were

cedar waxwings, I had never seen this behaviour

but a look at a reference book and the Cornell Lab

of Ornithology site confirmed it. There were eight or more

waxwings taking advantage of the protection offered by the

small island in the pond. I like watching birds but I really

like experiencing behaviours I have never seen before.

And it was another lesson in paying attention to nature and

the wonders of background reading.

"But nothing you ever understand will be sweeter, or more binding,

than this deep affinity between your eyes and the world."

Mary Oliver

Terns