A large flock of Bohemian Waxwings has been working up and down Main Street in New London for the last week. Two friends photographed them yesterday morning, and I took the afternoon shift. I found them just south of the Cleveland Library near the garden. They fed on a tree filled with fruit but seemed to prefer picking the berries off the ground. Probably easier. Then suddenly they relocated a hundred yards or so to the southeast. I followed and watched them strip a small berry bush completely bare in 10 minutes.
I’m not good at tree identification but the wrinkled dark red berries (crabapple?) in the photos below are from the first spot. The smooth bright red berries (high bush cranberry?) are from the second spot.
Here is a Bohemian working on a berry from the ground near my feet. I was sitting on a stone bench when I shot this sequence.
Some of these birds seemed to have a real attitude.
Some of the waxwings played toss and catch with the berries as in the two sequences below.
Some just seemed to like to hold it delicately.
When I photographed this sequence, the highbush cranberry bush still had quite a few berries, at least for the next seven minutes.
Several Bohemians landed on a nearby rhododendron which served as a jumping off place to attack the berries.
Here is one of the few Cedar Waxwings in the flock doing contortions to get a berry.
I like the shadow of the berries on the back of this Bohemian.
This Bohemian grabbed one and flew.
This pair is struggling to get some of the few berries that remain. When I left I counted 3 berries that the flock missed.
Here are a few more Bohemian photos from their short feast on the highbush cranberry.
If you have read this far you might be interested in reading the story of a flight that a different kind of bird made across the Connecticut River last August. It was pretty special and unique. You can find the story and photos on the preceding blog post. Or you can simply click HERE.