A Gardeners Forum Forums General Discussion Hobbies, Crafts and Creativity The Bird Lovers Forum Waxwings

I have never seen so many in my LIFE!!! Why one of them even pooped on my arm!

Here's a picture I took of one that shows all the classic Waxwing markings. I took 60 pictures this afternoon, most of them GREAT!

CEDAR WAXWING (with wax on its wings)

I m ust say 2 things, Thorny :

1) you have a wonderful camera & you know how to use it.'

2) you sure know how to lure a lot of different birds into your yard.
OR you know just where to go either way you win !!!!

You can have Waxwings much of the year, too, Junigirl. Just plant Mulberry trees, Hackberry trees, and Holly trees. Waxwings' sole diet consists of berries. In Winter they like Hackberries. In late-Winter/early-spring they glean the Holly berries. In spring, around May and June they go for Mulberries. Plant all of these in your yard and you can see Waxwings much of the year. I counted around 300 Waxwings in my yard this afternoon.

My camera is a Canon EOS Rebel XSi. I use an EF 75 - 300 MM telephoto zoom lens with an ultraviolet filter. I have an 8 Gigabyte SD photo card that can hold about 1,400 pictures at a time. I set up my camera on Shutter Priority, Center focus, Spot Metering, with all other functions on Automatic. I have a tripod, monopod, but for THIS kind of photography I use hand-held techniques. When you are hiking and constantly on the move with changing conditions, it is the BEST way to shoot. Most of my pictures are taken from about 10 - 30 feet away.

Here's another Waxwing. I sat outside from 4:00 PM to 5:00 PM this afternoon and got 60 pictures. I took only the BEST poses and conditions and ignored the others.

thanks for teh information Thorny----but at my age I would be planting trees for other people.

I will however give this info to my oldest DD's boyfriend, she has a very nioce Canon also & a tripid--among other items for his camera