Just moving through, ma'am.

I had a whole herd (yes, I said herd) of robins come into my yard - mixed in with red-winged blackbirds on the ground, and cedar waxwings in my holly tree. It was awesome!! And really noisy! I grabbed the camera and tried to hide behind a post. Many saw me and left, but I did get off a few shots. It was only after I downloaded the pics to my computer, and zoomed in, that I saw the cedar waxwings. Since the robins moved on without stripping the tree, I am hoping that I will still get a flock of cedar waxwings to do the honors. I just love to watch them pass the berries to each other, and I love hearing the soft whistling sound that they make. Winter ain't all bad!!

Another shot - I liked the silhouette effect.

Oh, how truly blessed you are, CJtown ..

I've spotted two of the Waxwings in the bush, toward the top .. but, am still lookin' for more of 'em!

Will be hopin' the same .. for you also!

- Magpye

I live for moments like that, ceejay. Nice catch! I was lucky to have had that happen with migrating robins a few times, too. A few years ago, I spent hours taking pics of robins through a window in the bedroom--contorting myself in all manner of positions to avoid being seen. I thought I had some awesome shots with my new-to-me-camera until later when I found *nothing* on the card. All the while I hadn't been pressing the darned button down hard enough!

I love robins. Once I watched the resident mockingbird singlehandedly clear out a treeful of robins... lol

ceejay, Nice pics!! I love that tree too. How tall is yours?

Great shots CJ!! Hope to see those Robins up here before long. If we aren't going to have much of a winter, then I am all for spring to begin.

Thanks all. Yeah, I live for those moments too. I so hope that I am home if/when the cedar waxwings come through. It's going to be a real "durn it!" moment if I come home to find that tree bare. How tall is the tree? - Hmmm... I'll have to ask DH - I'm challenged that way. He says probably 25 feet. It is a Savannah Holly.
magpied - I took a bunch of the best shots ever of my grandson, laid the camera down on the back of my DH's car, and that's the last I ever saw of it - he took off for the PO. Could take losing the camera, but hated losing the pictures!!!

Here's a cropped shot that shows the waxwings better...

Awesome shot!!!! They have just about wiped out all my berries. I saw one lone Cedar waxwing and got a better shot than before. I had a heard of Robins preceeding the front coming in today

Feel free to post your picture here. I would love to see it!

That tree is so thick with berries!

Ceejay, that is absolutely fabulous!!!

That tree was thick with berries. LOL It really was quite splendid this year. I never spray it, so it has good pollination from insects. It got a bad case of scale a couple of years ago, but I didn't want to poison the berries, so I let it go, and the wonderful beneficials came along and took care of it. I presume it needs a male pollinator (holly), but I'll need to check into that to be perfectly sure. I don't know what that would be in my yard...Now I'm curious. Off to do some research.... :-)

Excellent shots CJ! We had some Wax wings go through about two weeks ago. They didn't linger. Wish they had. I love to watch them. I haven't seen any Robins yet but I'm sure it won't be much longer.

Lin

Phooey..I'm jealous!! Haven't seen the waxwings yet,but the robins and redwinged blackbirds are here in force right now. Sure do hope the waxwings stop by...they are so cool looking!

Great pics CJ!!! Send some of those Waxwings over here! They're beautiful!

Splendid holly tree pic with your chirpy visitors! I wish we had a fine tall one like that to attract the birds. What a fine birdy experience you must have had.

I still haven't seen a cedar waxwing around here, although they say they are in our woods and park. I am looking at your photo but can't focus well enough to see one...will keep looking!

tabasco - In the last shot, there is one at 12 o'clock at the very top of the photo, and one at 8 o'clock - right below a robin. I usually hear them before I see them. There's a neat site that has a lot of info on birds, and also has a lot of their sounds. Go to this site to hear them.
http://www.mangoverde.com/birdsound/index.html

Still have the rest of the berries, so I still have a chance for waxwings. :-)

Thanks, ceejaytown. I can see it now.

Thanks, too, for the site link. 'Mangoverde.com' is the creation of a photographer who is a member of our local Cincinnati Bird Club. He has some beautiful photos on there.

Here is a link to a picture on the site CJ entered. You can see up close how beautiful they are, and where they get the name "waxwing". It looks like someone put some of the old wax like they used to seal envelopes with across his wing. I think these are the most georgeous birds of all those we see here. They just aren't around long enough.
http://mangoverde.com/birdsound/picpages/pic131-2-2.html

Here is a photo of a Cedar Waxwing that I photographed two years ago. I've taken other photos but this is the only that I have gotten that shows them with their tail feathers spread open.

Linth, what a perfect photo of a CW!! I haven't seen them where we live now (I suspect they're around), but back in Seattle we saw them on occasion (rarely). Once we had one hit a big window, and while it "recovered," the rest of the gang waited for it, then they all flew off together. It was remarkable. I actually stayed outside to make sure no cats could get to it.

Thanks, Murmur. They are seldom seen alone. And, they are a very attractive bird.

Another photo of the Cedar Waxwing .....

GREAT shots Linth!!

Yes they are...WOW...great pic!

Wonderful photos Linth! I've never seen the Cedar Waxwing with its tail feathers spread out like that. Thanks for sharing!

I think CW's are really underrated for their beauty - such exquisite colors. I didn't realize they had that yellow area on their underside. And, of course, we all love their masks - great shot of the face and front there!

Beautiful photos, linthicum!! Stunning! What kind of camera and equipment produced those? Wow!

Thank you all for your nice comments. Most of the bird photos that I take are not taken in my backyard. For example, I have never seen a Cedar Waxwing around my neighborhood. However, I go where the habitat is more inviting for the more unusual birds, generally within 20 miles of my home. I walk miles and take thousands of photos. I am constantly working on a bird gallery which includes as many different species as I can photograph. Once you get to 100 different birds, it becomes a lot more difficult to photograph a new one. But, you can still get a better photo than the one you currently have in your gallery.

I have good equipment but that is only part of the end product. Most of my photos, to date, have been taken with a Nikon D70 SLR, with a 50-500mm Sigma zoom lens attached. When I first started this hobby, I bought a 70-300mm lens which was not long enough to satisfy my objective. I have recently upgraded this equipment with a Nikon D200 SLR and a Nikkor 500mm prime lens. Admittedly, I am a little intimidated with the new lens because of its size and weight. It is a signficant financial investment that won't produce 7x better results so most people would consider it as a waste of money.

Linth, I recently got a 70-300 lens and admit I will probably be yearning for a 500 one of these days!!! For now, though, seeing as I'm still learning my camera (and will be for a long time I'm afraid!), it will do. I appreciate hearing how many photos you take - I never seem to take less than 100 at a time (even in my own backyard), and since I now have the burst mode, I end up with even more . . . spend lots of time deleting!!!

Linthicum - Thanks for that information. I well realize that it takes a major bunch of work and lots of discomfort to take those kinds of shots of birds. And early morning just isn't my thing! LOL!!! It definitely isn't all the camera. But I have to start somewhere. I hope you continue to show us more of your great stuff....

CJ