Cedar waxwings chirpily convene
For months piercing cries have come from the skies. Lifting my eyes from my garden work, I’ll see distant silhouettes of cedar waxwings perched and jostling for position in the highest treetops. But never close enough for a good look. Finally, two days ago, I heard those piercing peeps through the open window and rushed to grab my camera and telephoto lens. From the deck I took these photos of a restless flock.
Bandit masked, with sleek gray backs, tawny breasts and crests, yellow bellies and tail tips, and a dash of crimson on their wing tips, cedar waxwings are, to my mind, one of our handsomest birds.
They flock to ligustrum and holly trees, devouring berries by the thousands, and then deposit them, digested, all over the garden. A small price to pay for the beauty of the birds. (Though I wish they didn’t love — and spread — invasive ligustrum so much.)
Resting but alert
This pair seemed quite taken with each other…
…sidling close…
…and leaning in for a kiss.
Or a quick feeding. Courtship behavior?
Soon they leapt into the sky and wheeled off, their thin cries seeming to say farewell.
My camera still in hand, I watched another flock come into view, flying V formation — a flock of seagulls. (Cue humming of I Ran.)
So far from sea, they must have a long flight ahead.
I’ve seen robins lately too and suspect they’ll be heading north soon, heralding spring for those of you in colder climates. So how about you? Are you seeing any birds in your garden?
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Digging Deeper
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Your close-up photos are great, Pam. The Cedar Waxwings have made a couple of stops here – our security camera caught a video of them holding a pool party in our fountain once. Now that you mention it, I guess I probably have them to “thank” for all the Toyon seedlings.
I like that your security camera is capturing pool-partying cedar waxwings. Those rascals!
Cedar Waxwings are absolutely gorgeous!! We rarely see them here, which is quite the shame. Currently at my feeders are chickadees, dark eyed juncos, nuthatches, a million mourning doves, blue jays, woodpeckers, and the tufted titmouse. The turkeys are running rampant, and the red and grey squirrels are driving my pups mad. Soon the robins will be back and we’ll know for sure that spring is on its way!
You have a wonderful assortment of birds to enjoy as you await the first robin of spring. Thanks for your comment, Debbie!
Was watching white eyes in our olive tree, picking off tiny insects.
I had to look that bird up, Diana. A cute little thing and bug eater to boot!
You solved a mystery for us! Two days ago I called the kids over because a flock of birds were devouring the berries on our neighbor’s tree. We could tell they had yellow bellies but after looking through our bird book we could not agree on which bird it could be! Yay! Now we know. Of course, we spent part of the afternoon spraying down the deck and pool cover after they left their “offerings”. Oh well! It was fun to watch them!
I’m glad I could help, Aubrey!
Spotted them having a literal banquet on my pyracantha! I didn’t know what they were but they were quite a sight. Thanks for sharing all your knowledge.
I forgot about pyracantha berries. I bet they do love those!
Love them, but, I never get to see them in my garden.
They can be elusive for being so chirpy and hanging out in big flocks.