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They're out here almost every weekday, binoculars around their necks, looking for birds among the trees, on the ground, in the air. Cin-Ty Lee, professor of Earth science, has led an almost-daily bird-watching walk on the Rice campus since September, when a wealth of migrating birds began to appear in campus trees and grass. He's out every morning before the sun, and he's usually joined by a handful of other bird enthusiasts -- grad students, faculty and staff members as well as birders from elsewhere in Houston. The campus, it turns out, is a great spot for birders during winter and spring migration. Houston, after all, is on the migration pathway. Birds fly south during the night, then drop down to rest and feed just as the sun rises. The Rice campus offers an appealing patch of green amid the Houston skyscrapers, so birds will funnel down, crowding into a relatively small area. "It is one of the best places for birding in the Greater Houston area," Lee said. The group has spotted 111 species since September, and at least 15 of those were first-time sightings. Lee maintains a comprehensive list of campus sightings -- an astounding 191 species -- on his website.
