Cedar Waxwings In My Yard

Gazing out my kitchen window, early this morning, as I often do;  I noticed one, then two silhouettes of small, sleek birds.  After a few seconds of thought, I realized I was watching Cedar Waxwings in my sugar maple tree. The birds remained in the shadows, thus; their distinguishable coloring was not apparent.  But, I could recognize the bird by its shape, which includes a crest, and by the overall characteristic smoothness of the feathers.

Jubilation overtook me.  This is the first, well almost, time that I ever saw a Cedar Waxwing in my yard.  I was ecstatic.  I watched with great interest.  If nothing else happened, my day would be complete.

The birds remained only minutes as they were frightened off by a bunch of raucous Blue Jays.  My yard is always filled with Blue Jays - beautiful and big and scary to most other birds.  When the Blue Jays gather, the many other species of smaller birds scatter. When the Blue Jays depart, these smaller birds quickly return.  Officially, the Blue Jay is the bully of my bird world.

Nonetheless, the Cedar Waxwings have exceptional plumage - grayish-brown feathers burnished with a slightly golden belly and minute highlights of pure red and pure yellow.  I am thrilled I caught a moment to observe them in my yard. 

I will be sure to keep my eyes alert for more views of these little gems.

Note:  Actually, the first time I saw a Cedar Waxwing in my yard was a few months back (November 3, 2011 to be exact) when I saw Buddy mouthing what turned out to be a dead, headless bird. I immediately recognized it as a waxwing by the obvious and brilliant yellow color of the tail tip and bold red color of the wing tip. Morbid as it sounds, I took a photo of the dead bird. After all, that was my first waxwing sighting in my yard.  And, the colors were still amazing and worthy of notation.