Ah, work is a pain...
As every birder in Devon apart from me will already know, there is a flock of showy Waxwings on my Patch. This being opposed to the unshowy ones I found - well heard - on Tuesday. Anyway, having not touched my computer yesterday, I got up this afternoon, made myself a cuppa and flicked it on to see if anything interesting was about. No serious intent of running off - it was already starting to get dark, after all - but it's nice to start
Oh, shit.
Cue the usual jokes about flaming footprints and making Mr Bolt look tardy....
I wasn't expecting them to still be there, but to my delight I heard them about a street away* and yes, 17 gorgeous trillers were sat atop a Hawthorn, looking fabulous....
:D
The Cotoneaster - a straggly thing overhanging the sunken pavement and not what you'd think of as a big attractor by any means - is in the front garden of no.79 [the one with the big pointy conifer], the Hawthorn they were using is maybe 80' down the road - the other side of the semis with the solar panels. I shamelessly sat myself down on the steps opposite midway between the two and enjoyed Waxwing tennis! As long as there was no movement close to the berries, they were very relaxed, and someone with a camera on the grassy verge across the street could get some nice shots after the rain stops tomorrow [assuming they're there, of course!].
With the light going, I couldn't examine them all fully, but it seemed most were 1w - I only saw three definite adults; two female, one male - which is interesting. I don't know if there's any info on the composition of the other flocks seen, are they a majority of young birds? Most vagrants are young, but irruptions aren't the same thing. Could it be that adults [who may have irrupted before] know just how far they have to go to find food, whereas the 1ws, who haven't the knowledge, keep going until they hit something by chance? Or is it that this year they've bred very well and there are a lot of youngsters? Or is this just a chance group not reflecting the bigger picture?
Questions, questions..
The Waxwings themselves seemed very happy where they were. They'd sit atop the Hawthorn - nice 360° view - and every few minutes a group of 4-7 would come trilling over and snarf a few berries, then they'd fly back and a few more would come over. Once all the birds had fed they'd sit still, the odd one trilling quietly, until it was time to go again. They eventually flew off to roost at 1623 after one final round of bill-stuffing -when all the birds piled in at once - and I toddled back home feeling very happy indeed.
[[*Unlike Sunday, when I passed by twice at similar distances and didn't hear them...]]
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