I had stepped out the front door to gather firewood, but not without my camera in hand and ready (turned on and zoomed in) in hopes of catching some shots of the goldfinch at the thistle feeder. No luck, the sound of the door opening always scares him off (how do I know he's a he: Male American Goldfinch in Winter). But then something else caught my eye (well, ear, to be exact). I turned around and found the source of the sound. Six unidentifable birds sat in a tree, singing a song I recognized, but couldn't quite place just yet. They flew away when I tried to sneak up on them for a closer look (darn that sun in my eyes).
(Due to the sun in my eyes, I couldn't see the tuff of hair on top of the birds' heads, which would have been a good clue!)
So I continued on my merry way to the wood shed, getting distracted by fresh snowshoe hare tracks along the way (and a set of unknown tracks belonging to a much smaller mammal).
Chores complete, I quietly walked around the corner of the house, hoping to sneak up on some birds again. This time I was able to get a decent shot of the Goldfinch.
As I was taking these photos, I heard a ruffle of wings over my head. I looked up and was suprised to see a Cedar Waxwing!
UPDATE: do the waxwings in the tree look a little chunky? Perhaps I have Bohemian Waxwings, not Cedar Waxwings (cedar's are slimmer) ! It's hard to tell the difference with the bad lighting. I do think they sounded more like cedar waxwings though, and if it was summer, I'd have no doubts, but where it's late winter, I'm not so sure.
Cedar Waxwing vs. Bohemian Waxwing
I have more bird photos to post later of black-capped chickadees, hairy woodpeckers, and black-eyed juncos. Stay tuned.
No, it's a cedar and so early too. The Bohemenian have a red rump under their tail feather. Boom & Gary of the Vermilon River, Canada.
ReplyDeleteThanks Gary for the clarification. I've been waiting for them to come around again, but no luck. The robins have been back the last few days though, which seems earlier than I remember, but then I wasn't paying as much attention before either.
ReplyDeleteI don't recall ever seeing Cedar Waxwings...either I just didn't pay attention or I saw them and never bothered to look in by bird book to identify them...until I saw a flock of them in the orchard last week. They are fantastic looking birds with the little tuff of hair on their heads and the red on the tip of their wing feathers.
ReplyDeleteI was pruning one of my rose bushes this afternoon and I could hear Black Capped Chickadees in the Cedar shrub right next to me. One flew out and perched on my rose bush just a foot from my face...wished I had my camera in my hand!
I don't remember ever seeing them before last summer, either. They are so pretty, I which the waxwings were around more often! I love the chickadess because they're one of those few, brave birds that you can get that close to and really look at in detail. Glad you got to expereience it.
ReplyDelete