Waxwings

Anna: For the past few days, we've been hearing an almost constant squeaking/peeping noise outside our front windows. It turns out that a whole flock of waxwings have made themselves at home in the Mountain Ash and maple trees in front of our unit. I got a bunch of photos in their own set here. Or you can click on the photos below.



The first few photos were taken with a 90mm macro lens. This couple were being quite affectionate. They just sit next to each other for a while, then quickly rub their beaks together a few times, like some kind of birdie kiss, then sit quietly a bit longer before rubbing beaks again. Very cute.



Here, I've switched to the 70-300mm lens. Most of these turned out with a "soft focus" appearance. That's pretty much all my fault. While they were constantly moving, I had the lens at max zoom, and my hands were shaking more than usual today. I was afraid none of them would turn out, but I got a few good ones.



I moved from bedroom to bedroom to get the different shots. The birds would move from the Mountain Ash, grabbing last year's berries, to the maple, where they'd sit and preen for a while, back and forth.

Our cats can reach the window by the maple, and Harley was VERY interested in all those birds!



This shot has 8 1/2 waxwings in it. Can you see them all? I lightened the photo to make them easier to see. There were more outside the shot, too. Here's the full size photo, too.