"Mild US winter makes for unusual bird sightings"

"Every bird species has a captivating story to tell, and we're certainly seeing many of them in larger numbers farther north than usual, no doubt because of this winter's record-breaking mild conditions," said John Fitzpatrick, executive director of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.
Some of the unusual sightings included early migrating sandhill cranes and fish-eating belted kingfishers in northern areas that normally would be frozen over.
This winter was the fourth-warmest winter on record for the 48 contiguous states."  Read more here.