We are having colder, longer nights, the elk and the pronghorn are in rut, and the trees are turning colors so I know Fall is here, but there are other signs as well. Birds have begun to flock together and try to fatten up for the trip south. Many of the osprey have already left. The robins and cedar waxwings are stoking up on as many berries as they can find. A bunch of both species spent a long time eating juniper berries (Strictly speaking they really aren’t berries, they are cones, but they look more like berries.) along the banks of the Yellowstone River the other day. I don’t know what juniper berries taste like but I don’t think they are very appetizing. But waxwings must like them because that is where they get their name. (Some people mistakenly call a juniper a cedar.) When John James Audubon drew cedar waxwings he placed them in a juniper tree. Finding both cedar waxwings and robins in the same tree here is kind of ironic to me because in January and February we will see them in our holly trees together in East Texas, 1800 miles from here.
Cedar waxwings are so unique. What other bird do you know of that has what looks like drops of red paint on their wing tips and the yellow tip of their tail is unusual as well.
I know robins are almost ubiquitous but I still enjoy watching them whether they are pulling up an earthworm after a rain or chugging down berries as fast as they can.
Our photos are available at www.vernelehmberg.com. Watch for an upcoming sale soon.
Thank you Deby, Peggy, and Susan. I love these guys but still haven’t seen a Bohemian waxwing.
Jealous – went looking for Waxwings and couldn’t find them. Saw a lot of skittish bluebirds though – they must be getting read to leave soon. Love robins! Great shots.
I love the waxwings but don’t see many back east in PA. Beautiful pictures !
Love the Waxwing pics. Spent hours photographing them in Ennis this summer.