Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: Waxwing

On 22 February 2015, on my way out of Fish Creek Park, an enormous flock of Bohemian Waxwings swarmed around the tall trees along the edge of the road. Hundreds of them landed at the tops of these trees and then they would swoop down to the snow-covered ground and eat the snow for a few seconds before flying to the other side of the road and back again. "Waxwings often drink water or eat snow in winter, since the sugar in their fruit diet tends to dehydrate the birds through an osmotic effect. In the summer, the fruits are juicier and water is less of a problem" (from Wikipedia). These Bohemian Waxwings visit us in winter and then fly north for the summer, to breed. Here, in summer, we get the Cedar Waxwings instead. I pulled over to try and get a shot or two - quite the feeling to have so many of these beautiful, sleek birds flying around you when you are standing there. Earlier in the afternoon, this mass of birds landed in the parking lot trees. Interesting to hear the loud "whoosh" when they all took off so close to where we were standing. "The name "Bohemian" refers to the nomadic movements of winter flocks. It comes from the inhabitants of Bohemia, meaning those that live an unconventional lifestyle or like that of gypsies. The Bohemian Waxwing does not hold breeding territories, probably because the fruits it eats are abundant, but available only for short periods. One consequence of this non-territorial lifestyle is that it has no true song. It does not need one to defend a territory." From AllAboutBirds. "The Bohemian waxwing's call is a high trill sirrrr. It is less wavering and lower-pitched than that of the cedar waxwing. Other calls are just variants of the main vocalisation; a quieter version is used by chicks to call parents, and courtship calls, also given during nest construction, have a particularly large frequency range. Although not a call as such, when a flock takes off or lands, the wings make a distinctive rattling sound that can be heard 30 m (100 ft) away." From Wikipedia. www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/bohemian_waxwing/lifehistory en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bohemian_waxwing

If only birds would all sit and face the same direction at the same time, lol. At least two of these Bohemian Waxwings gave me a nice pose for a split second. They are such beautiful, sleek birds. It was cold yesterday morning, when I met friends for a three hour walk at Griffith Woods. Temperature was -10 to -4°C. Eventually, the warmth of the sun could just be felt, which always makes such a welcome difference. Not a huge variety of birds - we saw so many Bohemian Waxwings (a total of 600+) flying overhead and sometimes landing near the tops of very tall Spruce trees. This was the best I could do, 48x zoom then cropped. 10000birds.com/cedar-waxwing-vs-bohemian-waxwing.htm Canada Goose-110 Mallard-10 Bald Eagle-1 juv. Merlin-1 Downy Woodpecker-1 Hairy Woodpecker-1 Northern Flicker-2 Northern Shrike-1, chasing a Blue Jay Blue Jay-4+ Black-billed Magpie-7 Common Raven-3+ Black-capped Chickadee-25 Boreal Chickadee-4+ Red-breasted Nuthatch-1 White-breasted Nuthatch-3 Golden-crowned Kinglet-1 Bohemian Waxwing-600+. Pine Grosbeak-4 White-winged Crossbill-4+ Common Redpoll-2 House Sparrow-1 On a totally different note, I had a wonderful surprise yesterday. After receiving a notificiation e-mail telling me that someone had 'buzzed' me on the FriendsReunited website that I had joined quite a few years ago, I discovered two words, "Remember me?" To my amazement, it was from someone who had been in the class I taught for one year in England (my very first year of teaching, in a mixed class of Grade 5/6 (equivalent). He had been a delightful, quiet, shy boy and I remembered hm as if it was yesterday : ) I am so impressed with what he has done with his life - I'm still in awe today! Most of his 36 years of working were spent teaching. When he sent me the message yesterday, he had just finished taking part in the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race - the boat he was on came in third place out of twelve! Such a good, good feeling to hear that a student from so many years ago has used his life so well!

On 22 February 2015, on my way out of Fish Creek Park, an enormous flock of Bohemian Waxwings swarmed around the tall coniferous trees along the edge of the road. Hundreds of them landed at the tops of these trees and then they would swoop down to the snow-covered ground and eat the snow for a few seconds before flying to the other side of the road and back again. Unfortunately, most of them were in the shade when on the ground. "Waxwings often drink water or eat snow in winter, since the sugar in their fruit diet tends to dehydrate the birds through an osmotic effect. In the summer, the fruits are juicier and water is less of a problem" (from Wikipedia). These Bohemian Waxwings visit us in winter and then fly north for the summer, to breed. Here, in summer, we get the Cedar Waxwings instead. I pulled over to try and get a shot or two - quite the feeling to have so many of these beautiful, sleek birds flying around you when you are standing there. Earlier in the afternoon, this mass of birds landed in the parking lot trees. Interesting to hear the loud "whoosh" when they all took off so close to where we were standing. "The name "Bohemian" refers to the nomadic movements of winter flocks. It comes from the inhabitants of Bohemia, meaning those that live an unconventional lifestyle or like that of gypsies. The Bohemian Waxwing does not hold breeding territories, probably because the fruits it eats are abundant, but available only for short periods. One consequence of this non-territorial lifestyle is that it has no true song. It does not need one to defend a territory." From AllAboutBirds. "The Bohemian waxwing's call is a high trill sirrrr. It is less wavering and lower-pitched than that of the cedar waxwing. Other calls are just variants of the main vocalisation; a quieter version is used by chicks to call parents, and courtship calls, also given during nest construction, have a particularly large frequency range. Although not a call as such, when a flock takes off or lands, the wings make a distinctive rattling sound that can be heard 30 m (100 ft) away." From Wikipedia. www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/bohemian_waxwing/lifehistory en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bohemian_waxwing

Five afternoons ago, 22 February 2015, on my way out of Fish Creek Park, an enormous flock of Bohemian Waxwings swarmed around the tall coniferous trees along the edge of the road. Hundreds of them landed at the tops of these trees and then they would swoop down to the snow-covered ground and eat the snow for a few seconds before flying to the other side of the road and back again. "Waxwings often drink water or eat snow in winter, since the sugar in their fruit diet tends to dehydrate the birds through an osmotic effect. In the summer, the fruits are juicier and water is less of a problem" (from Wikipedia). These Bohemian Waxwings visit us in winter and then fly north for the summer, to breed. Here, in summer, we get the Cedar Waxwings instead. I pulled over to try and get a shot or two - quite the feeling to have so many of these beautiful, sleek birds flying around you when you are standing there. Earlier in the afternoon, this mass of birds landed in the parking lot trees. Interesting to hear the loud "whoosh" when they all took off so close to where we were standing. "The name "Bohemian" refers to the nomadic movements of winter flocks. It comes from the inhabitants of Bohemia, meaning those that live an unconventional lifestyle or like that of gypsies. The Bohemian Waxwing does not hold breeding territories, probably because the fruits it eats are abundant, but available only for short periods. One consequence of this non-territorial lifestyle is that it has no true song. It does not need one to defend a territory." From AllAboutBirds. "The Bohemian waxwing's call is a high trill sirrrr. It is less wavering and lower-pitched than that of the cedar waxwing. Other calls are just variants of the main vocalisation; a quieter version is used by chicks to call parents, and courtship calls, also given during nest construction, have a particularly large frequency range. Although not a call as such, when a flock takes off or lands, the wings make a distinctive rattling sound that can be heard 30 m (100 ft) away." From Wikipedia. www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/bohemian_waxwing/lifehistory en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bohemian_waxwing

Three afternoons ago, 22 February 2015, on my way out of Fish Creek Park, an enormous flock of Bohemian Waxwings swarmed around the tall coniferous trees along the edge of the road. Hundreds of them landed at the tops of these trees and then they would swoop down to the snow-covered ground and eat the snow for a few seconds before flying to the other side of the road and back again. "Waxwings often drink water or eat snow in winter, since the sugar in their fruit diet tends to dehydrate the birds through an osmotic effect. In the summer, the fruits are juicier and water is less of a problem" (from Wikipedia). I pulled over to try and get a shot or two - quite the feeling to have so many of these beautiful, sleek birds flying around you when you are standing there. Earlier in the afternoon, this mass of birds landed in the parking lot trees. Interesting to hear the loud "whoosh" when they all took off so close to where we were standing. "The name "Bohemian" refers to the nomadic movements of winter flocks. It comes from the inhabitants of Bohemia, meaning those that live an unconventional lifestyle or like that of gypsies. The Bohemian Waxwing does not hold breeding territories, probably because the fruits it eats are abundant, but available only for short periods. One consequence of this non-territorial lifestyle is that it has no true song. It does not need one to defend a territory." From AllAboutBirds. "The Bohemian waxwing's call is a high trill sirrrr. It is less wavering and lower-pitched than that of the cedar waxwing. Other calls are just variants of the main vocalisation; a quieter version is used by chicks to call parents, and courtship calls, also given during nest construction, have a particularly large frequency range. Although not a call as such, when a flock takes off or lands, the wings make a distinctive rattling sound that can be heard 30 m (100 ft) away." From Wikipedia. www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/bohemian_waxwing/lifehistory en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bohemian_waxwing

Yesterday afternoon, on my way out of Fish Creek Park, an enormous flock of Bohemian Waxwings swarmed around the tall coniferous trees along the edge of the road. Hundreds of them landed at the tops of these trees and then they would swoop down to the snow-covered ground and "feed" for a few seconds before flying to the other side of the road and back again. "Waxwings often drink water or eat snow in winter, since the sugar in their fruit diet tends to dehydrate the birds through an osmotic effect. In the summer, the fruits are juicier and water is less of a problem." (from Wikipedia). These Bohemian Waxwings visit us in winter and then fly north for the summer, to breed. Here, in summer, we get the Cedar Waxwings instead. I pulled over to try and get a shot or two - quite the feeling to have so many of these beautiful, sleek birds flying around you when you are standing there. Earlier in the afternoon, this mass of birds landed in the parking lot trees. Interesting to hear the loud "whoosh" when they all took off so close to where we were standing. "The name "Bohemian" refers to the nomadic movements of winter flocks. It comes from the inhabitants of Bohemia, meaning those that live an unconventional lifestyle or like that of gypsies. The Bohemian Waxwing does not hold breeding territories, probably because the fruits it eats are abundant, but available only for short periods. One consequence of this non-territorial lifestyle is that it has no true song. It does not need one to defend a territory." From AllAboutBirds. "The Bohemian waxwing's call is a high trill sirrrr. It is less wavering and lower-pitched than that of the cedar waxwing. Other calls are just variants of the main vocalisation; a quieter version is used by chicks to call parents, and courtship calls, also given during nest construction, have a particularly large frequency range. Although not a call as such, when a flock takes off or lands, the wings make a distinctive rattling sound that can be heard 30 m (100 ft) away." From Wikipedia. www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/bohemian_waxwing/lifehistory en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bohemian_waxwing

Just over a month ago, on 19 August 2014, I was lucky enough to go with friends, Cathy and Terry, for a great day out in the mountains. Our trip was part way along Highway 40 and then along the Smith-Dorrien/Spray Lakes Trail. The weather forecast was not good for this day, but we were so lucky that, apart from a few raindrops, the rain stayed away. The sun actually came out at two locations we stopped at for a short while, including at this one (Mt. Shark), where I photographed this little masked bandit, Cedar Waxwing. The background blur is a distant mountainside.

This was one quick shot taken yesterday afternoon (5 July 2014), on my way home from a long day of driving. Photographed at a pond, SW of the city. In the summer months, we have these Cedar Waxwings; in the winter, we get the Bohemian Waxwings. Thanks, Donna (Ducks & Daisies), for adding this website, which I had never seen before, to your comment! 10000birds.com/cedar-waxwing-vs-bohemian-waxwing.htm At the last minute, I decided I would have to get out of the house yesterday. I just couldn't take being in an "oven" any more. Not complaining about the hot, sunny weather we are having at the moment, but my house turns into an oven and then tends to stay that way for many days or weeks afterwards. I had planned on leaving the house earlier than I did (10;00 a.m.) and drove NW of the city and NW of Cochrane. Hadn't been that way for a long time and wanted to see if I could find an owl of some sort, especially a Great Gray Owl. No luck, and in fact it seemed like all wildlife was in hiding, except for four Deer. My morning's finds included a patch of beautiful Indian Paintbrush flowers (deep pink, yellow, green and peach colours) Also a noisy little Wren that I saw when I pulled over to take a look down a hillside to see if I could see the Red Fox that had just run across the road ahead of me - no luck. The next sightings were a lone Deer - forgot to check its tail, but judging by the enormous size of its ears, it had to have been a Mule Deer - and a Tree Swallow that was perched on its bright orange nesting "box". I wonder who chose the colour of the box this year; he or his mate, lol. Nearby, there were several Swallowtail butterflies down in the mud along the edge of the road. Before I could get there, a car came along in the opposite direction and of flew every single one. By the time I had photographed a few wildflowers, one butterfly did return, so I was able to get a few shots. Deciding to return to Highway 1a the same way as I came, I passed a couple of horses that always seem to be in the same place. I'm never sure about the health of these two, and they never seem "happy" animals, though maybe they are just getting very old. When I reached the road I wanted to check out (including for a possible owl), I found that it had just been oiled ready for a new surface to be laid, so that plan went out the window. Wanting to stay away from my unpleasantly hot house for as long as possible, I came home via Bragg Creek and some of the backroads that I love, SW of the city. Brown-Lowery Provincial Park was my first stop - and it has the wonderful, added benefit of washrooms in the parking lot - the first ones I'd seen all day! I checked out the area near the parking lot and then went maybe a hundred feet into the forest. After checking for any fungi (none), I heard a very loud cracking of branches and eventually spotted a huge, very dark shape through the trees. From that angle, it looked horribly like a Bear, but when it lifted its head from feeding, I was so relieved to see that it was "only" a Moose! A young couple were coming along the trail towards me and I said they must have seen it even closer. My voice was heard by the animal and unfortunately it moved quickly away. I like to think that a Bear or Cougar would react in the same way, lol! From Brown-Lowery, I passed my favourite little wetland and found the Snipe standing, as usual, on a fence post. Sorry, everyone, you might just get fed up of Snipe photos - if you aren't already! Got home around 6;00 p.m., feeling content that, even though the morning had been pretty disappointing, the day was a a good one. Would love to get in my car and go out again today, but I have things to get done and I don't want to overdo the driving, in case I make my shoulders any worse.

We saw something like 500 Bohemian Waxwings down at Burnsmead the other day. They would land in the tree tops and then they would all fly down to the ground and take mouthfuls of snow, en masse. Too many branches and bushes in the way for any decent shots, but this one did land on this low branch - though this pose is not the best, LOL. However, it was this or nothing, so I'm going with "this", as I rarely get to see Bohemians this close. Unlike a few of my other Bohemian photos, this bird is a typical, sleek one, not puffed up against the cold.

I was thrilled to finally get a decent photo or two of a COLD Bohemian Waxwing when I was on a day bus trip to Lake Louise yesterday. We stopped for lunch at an old railway station that has been turned into a restaurant, by Lake Louise. There were three Waxwings near the building. Usually, my photos are of a flock of Bohemians that have flown to the top of a very tall Spruce tree!

I was thrilled to finally get a reasonable photo or two of a COLD, fluffed up Bohemian Waxwing when I was on a day bus trip to Lake Louise two days ago. We stopped for lunch at an old railway station that has been turned into a restaurant, by Lake Louise. There were three Waxwings in a bush near the building. Usually, my photos are of a flock of Bohemians that have flown to the top of a very tall Spruce tree!

Photographed in Bridlewood, SW Calgary, on June 15th. "When the end of a twig holds a supply of berries that only one bird at a time can reach, members of a flock may line up along the twig and pass berries beak to beak down the line so that each bird gets a chance to eat." Wikipedia. www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/cedar_waxwing/id en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cedar_Waxwing

Not the greatest of photos, but thought I'd still post it. I rarely get the chance to see Bohemian Waxwings this close - usually, they are in a large number, flying overhead or landing at the very top of one of the tall Spruce trees in the park. This photo was actually taken at the Calgary Zoo on 4th April 2011.

Two of dozens of Bohemian Waxwings that landed in the tops of very tall Spruce trees in Weaselhead yesterday morning. Very distant and highly cropped image : ) I don't enjoy taking distant photos, but these two birds both happened to be looking sideways so that you can see their crest, so thought I'd add it to my Birds of Alberta set. talkaboutwildlife.ca/profile/?s=252 www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Bohemian_Waxwing/id en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bohemian_Waxwing

Another photo of a beautiful, sleek Bohemian Waxwing that flew down to a nearby tree (at the Calgary Zoo of all places) to gorge on the berries. Caught this one while it stopped for two seconds. And that, my friends, is BLUE sky behind it! Remember what blue sky looks like, ha??? This is just crazy - it's snowing again today, lol. Soon, the Bohemians will be leaving and the Cedar Waxwings will arrive and stay here for the summer - if it ever stops snowing.

I was so lucky yesterday afternoon. I had just walked round the Calgary Zoo and was almost back at the Exit, when a bunch of these Bohemian Waxwings flew into a tree near the path. The birds barely stopped moving, so I was surprised to find that two or three of the photos came out OK. It was a beautiful day yesterday, sunny with blue skies and such a contrast to the Winter Snow Storm that we had two days before, which left us with at least 10" of snow. Another lovely spring day again today, though I believe thundershowers are in the forecast for today. Went for a walk at Mallard Point, Fish Creek Park, this morning. Paths are muddy in places, icy in others and clear at other times. Really no photo opportunities, which is just as well, after an afternoon at the Zoo yesterday, lol. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bohemian_Waxwing

Another Bohemian Waxwing capture from 4th April, when I was at the Calgary Zoo for the afternoon. A flock of these sleek birds flew into a nearby tree just before I reached the exit to go home.

These are such beautiful birds, usually looking very sleek. However, the windchill was something like -28C and when you sit still, you get cold, lol. At least, that's the way it works for humans. I finally made myself leave my computer yesterday morning and joined a handful of friends to go for a walk in Fish Creek Park. We met at Bow Valley Ranch and carpooled down the road to SIkome to search for the Great Horned Owls, which were nowhere to be found. Last year, after a devastating storm, many dozens of trees were destroyed in that area, and this unfortunately included the tree next to the owl's nesting tree. This means that there is no longer a close tree for when the owlets start learning to fly, so I have a feeling that they have moved. A pity, as last year's nesting tree was quite open (i.e. good for photographers). We then did a walk along the Bow River. By the Ranch, we saw 600+ of these gorgeous Bohemian Waxwings and I was lucky to manage to catch one sitting briefly on an open branch. The handful of shots I took of them in the Spruce trees came out very blurred and overexposed. No idea how I managed that, ha. Soon, the Bohemians will be gone and will be replaced by the Cedar Waxwings for the summer. www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Bohemian_Waxwing/lifehistory