The nice thing about winter birding is you can see through the forest. No leaves. Mostly branches, limbs, twigs and trunks. With space between to spot birds.
You don’t mind being cold, and don’t mind snow and ice underfoot. Because a cool sighting could be waiting around the next curve in the trail. It could be real, or maybe something else.
Today you come upon a giant old tree, long dead but standing strong, tall and timeless. Sure enough, on one of its branches, there’s “the story bird.” It flutters, it chatters. A Tailorbird. 
Specifically, a “Common Tailorbird,” resident of South Asian jungles and suburban Mumbai backyards. But here it is. The most interesting sighting in today’s empty woods.
Its name: “Darzee,” remembered as the heroic busybody in Rudyard Kipling’s tale about a kickass mongoose and deadly cobras. On this cold day Darzee is not in hot India. He’s in your American freezing forest.
What tropical bird could be so far from home? A crazy one? Hey—Darzee may be flighty but he’s not crazy. Just imaginary. You nod to him. No need for binocs. You see him fine, this unforgettable bird from Kipling’s unforgettable tale.
Few other birds can be seen in these empty winter woods today. But you’ve got Darzee. You’re not complaining. This bird helped a fierce mongoose save a family from killer cobras. Well, let Kipling handle those details. And maybe share them with a kid. For now, you’re just glad to remember an old story and glad to spot an invisible bird, a story bird.
But then, there’s always something worth finding in the woods, whatever the season, whatever the weather. Something to take your mind off all that’s going on outside the woods.
