Cedar Waxwings, eating machines

-


Earlier this week I found a flock of at least 25 Cedar Waxwings that were literally devouring the berries in several 15 foot tall juniper trees near the Arkansas River in Canon City, CO. I was able to get pretty close to them, less than 20 feet away so I got a few close-ups (yes, I might have got even crisper pics with my camera on a tripod instead of handheld; but I doubt that I could have got as close again to them after returning to my car for my tripod and I think these came out pretty good)
I returned to this area and the waxwings had stripped all of the berries from these junipers except small patches that were close to the traffic driving on the adjacent busy street next to the trees. Cedar Waxwings are truly very efficient eating machines. SeEtta

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Band-tailed Pigeons, the mountain pigeons

-
Image
I spotted a small flock of about 9 or 10 of these Band-tailed Pigeons in a tiny unincorporated town called Greenwood which is south of Canon City about 20 miles (via winged flight). The homes in Greenwood are right up against the San Isabel National Forest and forests are the habitat for these mountain pigeons. The white collar on the nape of this species can be seen in the pic above.  The broad pale gray terminal band on a darker upper tail (and below the light undertail coverts) is best seen in pic below.  SeEtta
Read more

Spotted Sandpiper Chicks, 3 more days older

-
Image
Two days when I went to check on the Spotted Sandpiper family at Florence River Park I thought they had likely perished--there were two men engaged in gold panning right where the parent sandpiper had been and they had dug some of the sand from the bank where I last saw the sandpiper chicks. Arggh, I was afraid that all this activity, plus a large off leash dog with these people, would have scared the parent away and even if the chicks were successful in hiding in the vegetation they would not survive without a parent at their young age. What a surprise when I returned that evening for one last check to be accosted by the parent sandpiper calling loudly and challenging me by walking right towards me (and my dog). It took awhile for the parent to settle down and for one of the chicks to walk in some grass where I could spot it--the parent had moved the chicks about 150 from the river into an area with a lot of vegetation. I returned day before yesterday and refound the parent and ...
Read more

White-throated Sparrow, finally got a photo

-
Image
I found this White-throated Sparrow earlier this week on the Canon City Riverwalk then refound it yesterday a few hundred feet west of first location. But it stayed in the middle of the messy vegetation--limbs, twigs, leaves, grass and vines--so not able to even try to get a pic. Today I refound it again and got this one shot of it about 30 feet away surrounded by lots of vegetation but a quick clear view. While not a great pic it does show field marks of yellow supraloral spot, well delineated white throat, dark bill, black and white head stripes. SeEtta
Read more