Tuesday, 25 November 2008

Waxwings


Thousands of these gregarious little berry snatchers have invaded the UK during the past few weeks and most counties have now recorded them. Here in West Yorkshire the best flock so far discovered is this seventy-five strong bunch hanging around the King Cross district of Halifax.


The birds have laid claim to three well stocked Mountain Ash trees by a busy road junction, giving the resident Mistle Thrush a hard time as he does his best to repel the greedy gang.


Poor weather conditions this morning meant photography was from the car, which was far from ideal, but with the numbers now wintering there'll be plenty more opportunities for sure.

15 comments:

Bird Girl said...

You managed to get some unique poses, Bluebirder - Each one is quite fantastic, I've seen so many with the berries in the mouth but your image is straight on - very cool! Can't wait to see more!

kjpweb said...

Excellent! I still have to shoot even one! ;)
Great captures!
Cheers, Klaus

Leedra said...

They look like mad waxwings.

BLUEBIRDER said...

Thanks for your comments.
I think all Waxwings must be totally mad - it comes from consuming so many fermenting, over-ripe fruit based products!

jalynn01 said...

I love this bird! I seldom see it and have only photographed it once. Your pictures are extraordinary!!! I so enjoyed seeing the little berry snatchers!

Question of Identity said...

Awesome photos.

Thanks

Neil

sheffieldwildlife said...

Those shots are superb!

The Birdlady said...

Beautiful waxwing shots!

CIELO said...

Awesome photography!

cielo

Bird Girl said...

Hey Bluebirder -

Just wanted to say ...Hope you had a good holiday! And may you have the best year yet! Miss your photography!

BLUEBIRDER said...

Thanks BG and al the best for the new year to you too.
Sorry there's been nothing new on here for a while but all my birding's been at my local patch recently so you'll find my photos at www.bluebirder.wordpress.com

Kerri said...

Oh, these are one of my favorite birds! Beautiful shots!!

Bird Girl said...

Bluebirder - thought you might be interested in this article:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1117502/Pictured-Twitcher-waits-hours-rare-bird--snatched-away-buzzard.html

sheffieldwildlife said...

You can never get enough waxwings, can you? I think my girlfriend thinks I'm mad because I'll dash round Sheffield to see them every time I hear of any in the vicinity...

I've started a bit of a new venture, which is a multi-user wildlife blog for Yorkshire birders. If you fancy becoming a contributor then drop me a line.

http://yorksbirders.wordpress.com/

Abe said...

I must say that these photographs are perfectly done. They look so good I wonder if you have had any of them published? I take a lot of bird photos but we don't have a waxwing here where I live. And the bird photos I do take are only of birds that fly into my tiny, city, backyard.

I just brought my Coopers Hawk blog back. Blogger had saved the name for me. I have hundreds of photos yet to publish. If you are interested in hawks you are welcome to have a look.

http://coopershawk.blogspot.com/