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.
