Wilson's Warbler

[WhistlingBadger]

Mrs. Badger has been seeing one of these hanging out in the hedge for days (we get quite an assortment this time of year, raiding the chokecherries, hawthorns, crab apples, and honeysuckle berries), but I hadn't spotted it. Today I was home with a monster headache, so I sat outside with binoculars and watched until I spotted him (and his girlfriend, too). This isn't my picture, as they're rather hyperactive critters and the one I saw was gone before I could even think about grabbing the camera, but this is what they look like. Tiny flying gems.

We also have a family of cedar waxwings, two adults and a bunch of scruffy looking adolescents, hanging out gorging on chokecherries. They're among my all-time favorite birds.

 

[GaryE]

Way over east, the cedar waxwings are showing up. Last year I found one that had hit a window, and rather than leave him for the cats (I figured he had a bruised shoulder - no break) I kept him in an empty 30 gallon tank for a few days til he could fly, then released him. He flew off.
I kept contact to minimum - foraged food and fresh water, with no interaction.

I've been using the Merlin bird Identification app, and what I haven't seen but can hear is amazing around here. The diversity...

 

[gwand]

The Merlin app is terrific. It has let me ID about 30 species in my backyard. I have yet to spot a cedar waxwing but I’m hopeful.

 

[Colin_T]

Do you have pictures of the cedar waxwing?
What's a chokecherry?
Where do you get the bird app and how do you install it on a computer?

 

[Rusty_Shackleford]

Merlin is awesome! Do any of you report with Cornell University Bird Watch?
I'm jealous of you guys with your Cedar Waxwing sightings. I get excited when I see a Baltimore Oriole in the spring or the rare scarlet tanager in the summer.

 

[WhistlingBadger]

Do you have pictures of the cedar waxwing?
What's a chokecherry?
Where do you get the bird app and how do you install it on a computer?

I don't have any pictures of cedar waxwings, but here's one I found on the internet. They aren't flashy, and sometimes they're hard to spot, but their colors are subtly beautiful, and their call is extremely cute.

Chokecherries are a native cherry with a rather astringent taste. Some people can't stand the taste. I personally love them, and so do the local birds.

Prunus virginiana - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[fishorama]

Cute warbler, Badger! I used to be an active birder & spring & fall migrations were a great time to look for them. Easier to ID males in spring; females & juveniles were trickier.

I love cedar waxwings! I used to work at a wild bird hospital & got to release birds often. Waxwings need to go into a flock & they move around a LOT looking for fruit. In fall they often form larger flocks than just family groups. My mom & I saw a flock of 40-50 at the library 1 time, they were gone when we came out 15 minutes later.

 

[Colin_T]

I don't have any pictures of cedar waxwings, but here's one I found on the internet. They aren't flashy, and sometimes they're hard to spot, but their colors are subtly beautiful, and their call is extremely cute.

They're a nice looking bird. Almost a formal appearance with a splash of yellow to say "I'm different".