animals, birds, photography

Merry Christmas!

A ten picture slideshow of a Bohemian Waxwing adventure…

The last time I went to North Glenmore Park, on December 6th, I saw hundreds of Bohemian Waxwings. Yup! Hundreds!
When I walked onto the grassy area north of the ponds, I heard a buzzing, sort of like that of large power lines but a bit different and a bit louder. So I looked up into some leafless Balsam Poplars. Big, big flock of Bohemian Waxwings… somewhere between 100 and 200.
A little fun with Photoshop 🙂
A whole bunch of them flew down to the grass to eat some snow.
Bohemian Waxwings need to consume more water (or snow) in the winter than in the summer. Their diet consists mostly of fruit – they can eat more than two times their weight in a day! In winter, fruits are less juicy and their high sugar content dehydrates the birds.
They flew away. Since my flying birds were a bit blurry, I decided to play with the Dry Brush effect in Photoshop.
Then they came back… or other birds came to eat some snow too.
When I left the park, I was dismayed to find out I would have to wait 30 minutes for the next bus. But then I heard some Bohemian buzzing and looked up to find someone’s backyard trees full of Bohemian Waxwings!
So I wandered the Lakeview neighbourhood for 25 minutes. I saw a big flock flying off to other tree tops.
It seems they don’t mind perching closely together.

19 thoughts on “Merry Christmas!”

    1. They were more bunched up in my other photographs but on this tree they decided on a somewhat symmetrical and decorative arrangement :-). I’ve heard the trilling chorus of a few more flocks since then. A nice winter treat.

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    1. Thanks Eliza :-). I’m so glad you enjoyed it. I never know what bird happenings I will see when I step outside! I’m still hoping to see the bobcat family in that park, but even without a bobcat sighting, I always seem to see something cool and new every time I go.

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