Every spring, a flock of cedar waxwings stop by to feast on holly berries in our neighborhood. They are sociable birds, feeding cooperatively and often seen sitting together, lined up on tree branches early in the morning or late in the afternoon. After a few days, when the berries have been plucked from the bushes, the waxwings continue their nomadic journey in search of other food.
“Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter.” ~ Izaak Walton
They are beautiful birds and I’ve never seen them, except in pictures. They remind me a little of a cardinal with that crest. How interesting they lined up here in a row.
They do look a lot like cardinals except for their coloration. Their sound and mannerisms are quite different. I have read that when they are lined up in a row like this, they will sometimes pass a berry from bird to bird until one of them decides to eat it.
That is interesting – I really like how they line up like that … my friend in New York has them in her yard all the time and often takes pictures of them. She gets deer all the time too – it seems idyllic until she mentions they ate all her hostas … not so great there. I saw a ground hog yesterday at the Park – I hope the pictures came out because it didn’t see me and I didn’t want to spook it … eventually it saw me and ran into the bushes. It was eating leaves and I think berries and on its haunches … very roly-poly and that is the first time I had an up-close view except when he was peering out of his burrow earlier this year.
We don’t have ground hogs around here. Very nice sighting! Looking forward to seeing the photos.
I thought I remembered you and I talking about the ground hogs. I intended to take the pictures off the camera this morning and I had a plumbing emergency and worked late tonight – I hope to do it this week sometime – between work and the plumber has to come back to install a hot water tank on Wednesday so it’s going to be a disruptive week. I hope the photos came out as he was standing up and eating the leaves.
Oh my gosh! Wonderful.
The flurry of activity as they clear the bushes of the berries, combined with their high pitched sounds, really bring a yard to life. Then to see them sitting so quietly together is quite a treat.
a family that eats together flocks together!
🙂