After spending hundreds of dollars on bird food and thousands of hours watching and waiting, a Jackson County woman recently had what she calls the experience of a lifetime recently.

Shirley Czerniak starts every morning with a cup of coffee, her bird journal and her binoculars. But, for a couple days, she didn't have look past her hands.

"Oh yes, there they are," Shirley says as she points into her tall pine trees.

The old pines are a bird watcher's paradise.

"I love birds,” Shirley says. “chickadees, nuthatchers, cardinals...."

And last week, this bird lover's dream came true.

"I came out with scissors and string and a cedar waxwing flew right up and took it right from my hand," Shirley says.

After she managed to catch a few snapshots for proof, she spent the next five days helping the cedar waxwings build their nests.

"I think I cut thousands and thousands of pieces of string so their nests are nice and strong," Shirley adds.

At Beaver Creek Reserve in Fall Creek, naturalists say that's a good way to keep the birds coming back.

"Stay with cotton things,” recommends Ruth Forsgren. “You don't want synthetics. Also, keep water out too. When it's dry and you have water, they'll pick your yard over your neighbor’s."

Shirley says, at her house, the cedar waxwings also liked swooping in for her dog's hair after a brushing.

"Maybe that’s for the carpeting for the nest!" she says

Now, that those nests are built, Shirley says the birds don't have a lot of interest in walking up her arms. But, she has high hopes for the rest of summer.

"I hope when the babies hatch, they'll be as comfortable to show me them," she says.

Either way, in forty years of bird watching, Shirley says these moments mean the most.

"To have this beautiful songbird come and take the string from my hand, I don't think anything can compare. It's probably a once in a lifetime experience.”

Shirley says she's a snow bird. Every fall, she migrates to Florida in her camper for the winter, actually beating most of the feathered fliers down there. Then she waits anxiously for them to get there. And, greets them once again in the spring, when she gets to enjoy her Jackson county porch again.

Shirley says she’s curious to see if other people have had similar experiences with cedar waxwings or any other bird. You can e-mail her at wi_annie@yahoo.com.