We were on campus, and had just left a heady seminar on reflexive methodology, when a peculiar sight greeted us: snow glittered everywhere in the rare midday sunlight, blinding and astonishing in equal measure

And then: birds. a whole swarm of them, mobilized by the sudden snow, clustering around a tree with red berries. We stood and watched as the twittering, fluttering cloud devoured each and every berry within minutes, then whooshed away in search of more noms