The temperatures had dipped into the 20's, the wind howling 40 knots northwest for two days, but I knew the perfect spot to get some fresh air without being blown over.  And what's that old Norse saying?  "There's no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothes."  Or is it Eskimo?  Or just a slogan for REI?  Anyway, I put on all the warm clothes I owned and headed for Higbees Beach WMA. 

OK, not really part of CMNWR, but a place which always offers great winter birding along with the protection of the dunes and dune forest from those winter gales. 
   I stuck to the yellow trail through the oak/cherry/holly woods behind the dunes.  I could hear the wind roaring through the tops of the swaying trees, and I saw what I thought was snow but was actually bits of ocean foam, blown over the trees, falling to earth in the swale like ash.  But I was comfortably sheltered, and so were the birds!
   Big flocks of robins were everywhere down in the thickets, feeding on the holly berries.  With them were their cousins the hermit thrushes, as well as a few myrtle warblers and a palm warbler no doubt wondering why he had missed that last bus to Miami Beach.  Woodcocks were plentiful, as they usually are here all winter and spring, especially when snow and frozen ground elsewhere make probing for worms more difficult.  I've been here after a snowfall and seen groups of 10-15 woodcocks gathered together in small grassy areas where the snow has melted in the sunlight.   
   Another typical winter bird here is the fox sparrow (photo above), and they made an appearance today also.  In the fields near the frozen pond I spotted a brown thrasher as well as a northern cardinal.  Absent today were any soaring raptors, although I'm sure, what with all those tasty passerines concentrated in the protected woods, that a few Cooper's Hawks were hiding nearby.  Also, I had hoped to see a few bluebirds, but it was too cold to check the east fields where they like to hang out.  I gave a couple of quick scans but no luck. 
   Here's my list, not very long but hard-earned nonetheless:

-American Woodcock
-Northern Cardinal
-Myrtle (Yellow-rumped) Warbler
-Palm Warbler
-Tufted Titmouse
-Carolina Chickadee
-Carolina Wren
-American (Common) Crow
-Black Vulture
-Fox Sparrow
-Brown Thrasher
-American Robin
-Song Sparrow
-White-throat Sparrow