Bohemian Chatterers

Three hundred or more Bohemian Waxwings were just up the road from David’s house here in Nelson this morning, their pleasant buzzing trills drowning out everything but the Steller’s Jays and a nearby Pileated Woodpecker. Though the flock “staged” in the tops of surrounding trees, it was the mountain ash fruits they were after, of course, a food source they enjoyed acrobatically

and sometimes a little bit belligerently.

The dog was eager to get home after our walk along the snowy BNSF trail here in Nelson, but even the couple of minutes he let me watch made it obvious that there were both first-cycle and adult birds in the flock, distinguished–as any modern field guide points out–by the complexity of the wing markings. The bird above is young, while this one is a glorious adult:

I was so enchanted by the chatterers that I nearly overlooked the fourteen Evening Grosbeaks stripping cottonwood buds close by.

With Pine Siskins, American Goldfinches, and Red Crossbills all making appearances along our route, it turned out to be a classic wintry morning–with the bonus of blue skies and warm temperatures. Keep it up, Nelson!