Thursday, March 7, 2013

Cedar Waxwings

The Cedar Waxwing is one of the most striking birds that I got to see.  While they are much more common that their cousins, the Bohemian Waxwing, Cedar Waxwings are fascinating and social birds to watch.  As I approached the grouping that I photographed below.  They were startled by my presence.  To be fair, I was startled by them as well.  They, unlike me, flew up out the cedars.  Where I had seen 3 or 4, 15 popped out of 3 different cedars.  They zoomed around the cedars looking, presumably for another place to hide from me.

I got lucky.  The street where the cedars were was an over populated, overbuilt street leading to the beach and the waxwings landed back in the first cedars.  Lucky for me.  But I thought about the poor waxwings.  They just wanted to be safe.  What if instead of a birder, I was a car?  A cat?  Another predator?  The Waxwings probably would fly off of course but to what end.  I guess what I am talking about is habitat and birds.  This is something that has preoccupied me lately and something I hope to write about in the future with a more detailed idea.  In the mean time, enjoy pictures of waxwings!

Wind so strong it blew the feathers in the face of the waxwing
Two Pictures of Cedar Waxwings (C) me 

2013 Year List
Brown Headed Cowbird

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