Cedar Waxwings

We have had a flock of 5 or more Cedar Waxwings hanging around the

backyard for the last couple of months. They are such elegant birds.

"Above us, stars. Beneath us, constellations.

Five billion miles away, a galaxy dies

like a snowflake falling on water. '

from Flying at Night 

by Ted Kooser

"For man, autumn is a time of harvest, of gathering together. 

For nature it is a time of sowing, of scattering abroad."  

Edwin Way Teale  

Autumn Across America, 

This weekend we could not make it to 

the park so these photos are from last 

weekend. Fall was in the air and the leaves.

Shaun

and Wendolene were in fine form.

The were few ducks and ducklings left.

And a small flock of Pine Siskins had joined 

the Waxwings.

"The morns are meeker than they were,

The nuts are getting brown;

The berry's cheek is plumper,

The rose is out of town.

The maple wears a gayer scarf,

The field a scarlet gown.

Lest I should be old-fashioned,

I'll put a trinket on."

Autumn 

  Emily Dickinsen

Last week I was at the pond in the park near work

photographing damselflies. I had been noticing one

or two birds flying above the pond feeding on insects for

weeks and while they did not look like swallows I never got a

 good look. But now there were lots of them, all nesting on

a  small island. A closer look and I realized they were

cedar waxwings, I had never seen this behaviour

but a look at a reference book and the Cornell Lab

of Ornithology site confirmed it. There were eight or more

waxwings taking advantage of the protection offered by the

small island in the pond. I like watching birds but I really

like experiencing behaviours I have never seen before.

And it was another lesson in paying attention to nature and

the wonders of background reading.

"But nothing you ever understand will be sweeter, or more binding,

than this deep affinity between your eyes and the world."

Mary Oliver

Terns