Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Cedar Waxwings Are Cool

Timing is everything somedays.

I was actually taking a break in the middle of the day to search for some parakeets. I had seen them in different spots over the years but can't find a permanent, reliable place to get them on my local travels. So I did some drive arounds without luck and headed home, empty-handed. I stepped out of the van and heard a ton of high-pitched calls in front of the house. Goldfinches? Nope. Cedar Waxwings!

I was unloading the things I had in the van while keeping an ear to the sky and trees when I saw a bit of movement near the street. Birds were starting to head to the holly trees mere feet from the yard. Waxwings were mobbing. I grabbed the camera and positioned myself in the one stretch of shadows and began trying to focus on the fast flying, berry-grabbing birds. It was a very nice 20 minutes. I got a lot of good shots as they drifted back and forth, like this one.

Cedar Waxwing

Seriously, is there a more elegant looking bird than a perfectly lit Waxwing? I find them so stunning.

Cedar Waxwing

Those tans and yellows and that deep black around the mask. I almost can't breathe as I squeeze off shot after shot when they stop for a brief moment, hoping I can get a photo to capture the beauty of them. Did well today.

Cedar Waxwing

The best part of looking through the shots, though, was finding I got some good berry grabbing moments. The birds were quickly stripping the two trees right before my eyes in mere seconds. Every wave wiped out another section on the branches.

Cedar Waxwing

A bird would choose a branch, size up where the remaining berries were and slurp them down. I love this shot of a near-gone gulp.

Cedar Waxwing

Something I was happy to catch, I never saw the Waxwings actually tossing the berries into their mouths as they were about to swallow them. The camera doesn't lie.

Cedar Waxwing

Sorting through the 100 photos, I made another interesting discovery. Notice that tail tip on this bird?

Cedar Waxwing

Most Cedar Waxwings have yellow tips on their tails. This one is orange. I remember reading about this more rare sighting before so I did some research and the most agreed upon reason that some birds have orange tips is due to diet. Some birds feed on honeysuckle berries and develop the different coloration. This shot clearly shows the orange tips. Nice.

Cedar Waxwing

The encounter was over too soon for me. They left a few berries on the tree but the traffic was increasing and eventually the birds flew off to the North. There are usually one or two days that Robins and/or Waxwings put on a frenzy in the neighborhood. Trick is being there.

Cedar Waxwing

This may have been my only chance for this many Waxwings at one time this season and I am super happy to have been able to witness it. Bring on the Robin frenzy!

2 comments:

Amy said...

Super pictures! We've been having a robin frenzy here the last couple of days. Love them but wouldn't mind if they'd switch with waxwings for a day. :)

warriormom said...

Great captures!!! I usually have a one day waxwing spree on my holly during the winter, often during a snow event. Neither has really happened yet although a flock of robins buzzed through last week and did quite a job on the holly.