A Curious Juvenile Cedar Waxwing

Two days ago I was trying to photograph birds in a very large mixed flock of songbirds in the mountains without a lot of luck. Most of them were in, or close to, a large serviceberry bush at the bottom of a hillside below me and they were pretty far away so I was mostly frustrated as I watched so many potentially interesting photo subjects that stayed just a little too far out of my range.

But suddenly one of the Cedar Waxwings, a juvenile, broke the mold.

 

1/5000, f/5.6, ISO 800, Canon R5, Canon EF500mm f/4L IS II USM + 1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in

“He” flew up the hillside toward me and landed near the top of a small chokecherry bush only a few feet away. He had absolutely no interest in the berries, he was only interested in me. He just stood there with his eye on me, barely moving for long enough for me to get as many photos as I wanted.

The only pose variety I got from him was when he…

 

 

1/6400, f/5.6, ISO 800, Canon R5, Canon EF500mm f/4L IS II USM + 1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in

stretched his body vertically as far as he could, apparently in an effort to get a better look at me. After holding this pose for a few moments, he’d seen all he wanted to see so he…

 

 

took off away from me, flew back down the hill and rejoined his companions at the serviceberry bush.

Out of at least 75 birds in the mixed flock, including Yellow Warblers, Orange-crowned Warblers, Western Tanagers and Cedar Waxwings, he was the only bird that came in close to me in the 20+ minutes I was there.

At least there was one.

Ron

 

PS – If you prefer, here’s a horizontal crop of the first photo. And yes, there’s a double catch light in his eye. There are actually three of them but at this low resolution one of them can’t be seen. I decided against removing any of them but if I had it would have been the smaller one at the upper left of his eye.

 

 

 

22 Comments

  1. Vertical for me. And yet again I was slow getting vertical myself this morning though it is not yet dawn here.
    Love this curious charmer, and the shiny berries look delectable. He must have been VERY interested in you.

  2. Beautiful photos! We did not see many close yesterday and it was oddly silent in many normally birdy places.

  3. A beautiful bird, one of my favorites!
    I rarely see them in NC but sometimes in Virginia.

  4. Charlotte Norton

    Great series, thanks for sharing.

    Charlotte Norton

  5. He is precious! I love the little crest and the black eyeline, showing the promise of the elegant adult plumage to come. And the catch light on the berries is pretty nice, too.

  6. Everett F Sanborn

    For a good photo of a Waxwing it is essential to get a good catch eye and you did it. When they visit our neighborhood I get photos ok, but somehow rarely get that catch-eye just right. A group of Waxwings is called a “Museum” > a museum of waxwings came to visit Ron.

    • I dunno, Everett. I worked at a museum for 12 years and I never once saw a waxwing there. At least not a living one (there were a few stuffed waxwings in the collections… 🙂

  7. Arwen Professional Joy Seeker

    Inquiring birds want to know!

  8. Like Judy, I was interested to see that the adolescent looks relatively
    “rough” in comparison to the supremely slick and elegant adult
    waxwings– I’m glad that there are so many berries for the birds that they can afford to “pose” for you and ignore them for the moment.

  9. Fun! Know we have a few around this year tho they tend to get lost in the racket from others and foliage. Easy to tell a juvenille it seems as they are far from the “polished” plumage of the adults…. 😉 Glad there is a bountiful crop of berries there. We have a lot of Chokecherries and Buffaloberries this year – as there TOO many to all be devoured.

    • We have lots of berries this year too, Judy. I just wish we had more birds to eat them. This large mixed flock was the exception rather than the rule.

  10. Michael McNamara

    I like the horizontal version.

    Going back to the multiple catch light discussion. What do you suppose were the sources of the two additional catch light?

    • It’s hard to say for sure, Michael. In this case, since there was no water nearby, I’d guess that it was caused by sun reflections off of the shiny surfaces of my pickup. Maybe the bumper?

  11. Vertical crop for sure! Love the composition with the twig jutting up behind him and the positions of the chokecherries. I think he knew you were getting frustrated and wanted to help you out. 😉

    • “I think he knew you were getting frustrated and wanted to help you out.”

      Ha, if that was the case, he wouldn’t have taken off away from me! Thanks for your take on the composition, Marty.

Comments are closed