St. Asaph Waxwings

A day or so after Christmas, despite suffering from a heavy dose of "manflu", I couldn't resist travelling to St. Asaph in North Wales to look for a flock of waxwings that had been frequenting the area for a few days. They had been feeding on rowan berries in an area close to the river, but on my arrival all the trees there had been stripped of their fruit, but the birds were still present, roosting in the tall trees on the river bank. A few of them occasionally swooped down to snatch berries from the ground, or to drink from the rainwater puddles. But the main flock appeared to be feeding on the opposite side of the river. I scanned the area and found the berry-laden trees which were their latest food source. After alerting other birders to their presence, I hurried across a bridge and managed to obtain some nice images of one of my very favourite species of bird.

 

Winter Birds

Seasons Greetings.

Just a few images from a colder winter taken a couple of years ago in North Wales. Male Bullfinch, Fieldfare and of course a Waxwing.

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Welsh Waxwings

Marsh Tits

BBC Wildlife

It is always very exciting seeing my photos in print, and it's a great honour to have a photo published in the illustrious BBC Wildlife Magazine. So I am extremely excited that the accompanying photo of a Waxwing in Denbigh has been chosen as March's "Photo of the Month"!
I have won a very good Lowpro camera bag as a prize; but the real prize is seeing my photo in a magazine that has been a constant source of education and pleasure for me for nearly 30 years!



Waxwing, Denbigh, December 2012

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Welsh Waxwings

Waxwings

 

Waxwings 3 (Welsh Waxwings)

Regular readers already know of my love of Waxwings and this winter is turning out to be a classic one for this irregular visitor. I have already photographed a few medium sized flocks of these beautiful birds but I am still trying to find a large flock to enjoy and at the moment Wales seems to be a good bet for such an
encounter.
Time has been a limiting factor on my birding trips recently and last Saturday afternoon was no exception. A brief stop in Chester where a few Waxwings had been reported in the morning proved fruitless, so I drove on to Denbigh where a flock of seventy birds had been seen earlier in the day. I had already visited the site at Brookhouse Mill two weeks earlier after photographing the Desert Wheatear at Rhyl, but there were no Waxwings to be seen on the afternoon of that day. Today, I was more fortunate as the birds could be seen feeding in bushes right on the main road as I pulled into the mill carpark. Four other birdwatchers were present when I arrived, but didn't stay long, so I had a flock of over one hundred of these fabulous birds almost to myself; apart from the friendly locals who were most interested in what I was photographing. The birds were very obliging and only flew into the high trees when surprised by a Sparrowhawk. Unfortunately, it was a dull afternoon but I still managed to take some acceptable photographs. I have no doubt that I will spend more time with these avian beauties this winter.

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Waxwings

Desert Wheatear

Waxwings 2

After lunch in Liverpool with my son Adam, I returned to the Wirral via the Birkenhead tunnel and was delighted to find a flock of over sixty Waxwings not far from the tunnel exit. I took some record shots and a brief snippet of video. There was an irate Mistle Thrush (whose rattling call can clearly be heard on the video) trying to defend his berry supply from the ravenous hordes of Waxwings.

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Norfolk in October

Waxwings

Waxwings

If you phone the bird information services, or have a rare bird pager, or browse the web for news of the latest rarities you will be familiar with the names of the country's birding hot spots such as Cley in Norfolk, Fair Isle or the Scillies. But recently other names have been swamping the bird news services such as Tesco, Mecca Bingo and even Bargain Booze!
This can mean only one thing; Waxwings are here, and this winter birdwatchers and the general public alike are in for a bountiful bonanza of these colourful Scandinavian crowd-pleasers. Being mainly berry eaters they are fond of rowan, hawthorn and cotoneaster berries which are often planted in urban areas, hence their  predilection for turning up in some unlikely places.
Waxwings are undoubtedly, one of my favourite birds and I never pass up an opportunity to see them or photograph them so I could be quite busy over the next few months. In keeping with their choice of feeding areas I visited B&Q in Llandudno last week, not to try and improve my woeful DIY skills, but to try and photograph a flock of about forty of these avian beauties that had taken up temporary residence in the area.
My time was limited but I managed some acceptable shots before heading to Conway RSPB.
Today I saw a single bird in the car park of Arrowe Park Hospital in Upton, before heading over to Liverpool where a flock of over one hundred had been reported. Unfortunately, by the time I arrived there were only ten birds present. Never mind, I'm sure plenty more photographic opportunities with Waxwings will present themselves over the coming months.
Keep your eyes peeled on those berry bushes, and if you haven't seen any yet this year, don't worry they will no doubt be coming to a car park near you some time soon!

All the above photos were taken in Llandudno, the following four were taken in Liverpool.

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Norfolk in October

Leighton Moss