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Wednesday, December 13, 2017

Berry delicious


It's been a busy couple of days, but here are a few pictures of Cedar Waxwings (Bombycilla cedrorum) from our yard in the late afternoon today (13 December 2017).


A close-up of the red wax-like droplets at the tips of the secondary feathers:



And one image of the flock just after it took off.  When they're feeding, sometimes it's hard to see (or hear) how many waxwings are in the tree.  I'm almost always surprised by how many birds there actually are.  How many do you see in the photo below?  (All of the birds in the photo are waxwings.)


[I counted 46 waxwings.]

3 comments:

Mary Keefe said...

I love Cedar Wax Wings! I have not seen them since moving from Michigan and I miss them. I will have to keep my eye out.

Jackie Sones said...

Hi, Mary!

Cedar Waxwings don't seem to be as common at the coast. But in Cotati we see them fairly regularly, especially when the berries in the local trees/shrubs are ripe. At this time of year, I often hear them and see them in downtown Sebastopol when I'm grocery shopping.

:) Jackie

Mary Keefe said...

Hi Jackie, I finally remembered the trees I had in Michigan that the Waxwings loved. They were Black Hawthorn. I haven't caught up with my brother yet on the identifying the other tree from my childhood. I will soon.