Posted on February 15, 2017 at 07:56:07 PM by Chris Evans
I observed a flock of over 277 (I had estimated 150+ but photo count yielded 277+) Bohemian Waxwings and at least one Cedar Waxwing at 60 Lion's Gate Boulevard, Barrie today at 11:25 a.m. They alternately fed on the crabapples on the south side of Lion's Gate Boulevard and, every time a car went by, flew up into the trees behind 60 Lion's Gate Boulevard. I first saw them flying across the road from the south and up into the trees to the north and thought they were European Starlings, but as I got closer I could see they were Bohemian Waxwings. I watched and photographed them from quite a distance up in the trees to the north for about ten minutes. I started to pack up at my car which was about 3 metres from a crabapple tree and they all came flying down into the tree! What a spectacular sight and sound! I fumbled to get my camera set up again and a car came along and they all spooked and flew back across the road. They repeated this about three times. I was just about to take a video to attempt to record the sound and they all spooked again. This time they flew off to the south and did not return. There are still lots of crabapples there, so they may well return later.
This one second photo sequence in Flickr shows the centre Bohemian Waxwing selecting and eating a crabapple and reaching for another ... Enjoy!
Happy Birding! Chris
Replies:
- Re(1): 277+ Bohemian Waxwings, Barrie - By Larry Durkee February 18, 2017 at 01:59:52 AM
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