Lots of Waxwings in the country-some photos
- Thread starter Dave7
- Start date
Page may contain affiliate links. Please see terms for details.
growingvegetables
Guru
- Location
- Leeds
Aye - and the geese came in early this year. Signs of a hard winter to come, folks!
twentysix by twentyfive
Clinging on tightly
- Location
- Over the Hill
OOH Thanks for the heads up. We had some here last winter (or the winter before last I forget now). When in flight and sillhouette you'd mistake them for starlings.
Luddite Joe
Über Member
- Location
- Swindon
Lots of fieldfares arrived in Wiltshire in the last week.
I've never seen waxwings, but I'll be on the lookout.
I've never seen waxwings, but I'll be on the lookout.
twentysix by twentyfive
Clinging on tightly
- Location
- Over the Hill
Green Woody on my larch tree this afternoon. 
Stephenite
Membå
- Location
- OslO
There were a lot of Fieldfares around here a couple of weeks ago. Looked it up to see if they might be the same ones but, as it's only an overnight flight for these birds, unlikely. But, you never know.
WOW.Green Woody on my larch tree this afternoon.
Where do you live........I,m on the way down (or up).
Mind you-they live on ants don't they ?......maybe I'll stay here
Fnaar
Smutmaster General
- Location
- Thumberland
Lovely photos, Dave7.
Fnaar
Smutmaster General
- Location
- Thumberland
Great pix too, User9609
twentysix by twentyfive
Clinging on tightly
- Location
- Over the Hill
West Worcestershire. Bit of a hot spot for Green and GS Woodies around here. I've seen the Greens pecking away in the lawn. Ants maybe or grubs.....WOW.
Where do you live........I,m on the way down (or up).
Mind you-they live on ants don't they ?......maybe I'll stay here
twentysix by twentyfive
Clinging on tightly
- Location
- Over the Hill
They certainly are!!Great pix too, User9609
gbb
Squire
- Location
- Peterborough
Wahayyyyyyyy saw my first ever waxwings, ironically, without even trying.
Wife, daughter and myself took a circa 1 mile walk to the local shopping centre, passing through a snowy urban sprawl that borders countryside. Half way down this street i was aware of spooking a bird from some bushes literally 4 feet away from me....
What the !!!!....beautiful, silky smooth feathers, crest erect on his head, he just sat there 6 feet away, then flew up into a solitary tree...What the !!!!, there's a whole flock of them....
Not a very good photo, no zoom, taken quickly, but...
Just when you expect it least....
saw my first ever waxwings, ironically, without even trying.Wife, daughter and myself took a circa 1 mile walk to the local shopping centre, passing through a snowy urban sprawl that borders countryside. Half way down this street i was aware of spooking a bird from some bushes literally 4 feet away from me....
What the !!!!....beautiful, silky smooth feathers, crest erect on his head, he just sat there 6 feet away, then flew up into a solitary tree...What the !!!!, there's a whole flock of them....Not a very good photo, no zoom, taken quickly, but...
Just when you expect it least....
Poacher
Gravitationally challenged member
- Location
- Nottingham
For added fun, check to see if any bird in the flock is a Cedar Waxwing. They're slightly smaller and less colourful than Bohemian Waxwings, but the most obvious difference is creamy undertail coverts rather than the Bohemian's rich chestnut, shown clearly in Reiver's superb photos. AFAIK the only UK mainland record is the one which showed up in Nottingham in Feb 1996 - I took a fortnight off work (which I had to take before April anyway) to follow the huge Waxwing flocks (800 or so) and try to spot it. In all that time I only had 3 really good views - and no photos, unfortunately.
I've only seen small flocks of Bohemians so far this winter, up to 20 or so, and none so far this year; I think they've polished off most of the available Rowan berries and moved on. As gbb noted, they can be very confiding: I watched some feeding on an ornamental pink-berried Rowan about half a mile from my house, with unsuspecting pedestrians walking within five or six feet late last November.
I've only seen small flocks of Bohemians so far this winter, up to 20 or so, and none so far this year; I think they've polished off most of the available Rowan berries and moved on. As gbb noted, they can be very confiding: I watched some feeding on an ornamental pink-berried Rowan about half a mile from my house, with unsuspecting pedestrians walking within five or six feet late last November.
