Monday, April 6, 2009

More cedar waxwings

Early this morning, more cedar waxwings were swooping from their perches on the red oaks behind the Carriage House to devour berries from the hollies behind the Terrace Garden wall. I watched them for a bit; they're orderly in their progression, taking turns eating, perching, swooping, eating.

The sight of so many cedar waxwings is impressive. I've seen more big flocks this year than I ever have before!

Fast forward and listen to Patrick McMillan's spot about cedar waxwings on Your Day (on the March 12 program) for his take on the phenomenon.

2 comments:

Angela2932 said...

I don't know if you answer questions, but I have Cedar Waxwings attacking my house. What should I do. I have a picture on my blog at www.mypixelatedoasis.blogspot.com. If you can help me with this, I'd really, really appreciate it!

Lisa said...

Hello, Angela-
I took a look at the photos on your blog.

It's quite odd, really, that Cedar Waxwings are pecking at your window frames. They're not territorial (like woodpeckers or cardinals) so they're not marking territory. They're largely nomadic fruit-eaters, eating just someinsects in spring.

I'd be concerned that there's something chewing on your window frames (carpenter ants, or something like that) that they're interested in eating in your warm spring-like weather.

Putting up owl emblems might help (as your DNR dept. suggested), but I'd take a really close look at your window frames and other parts of your house to see if there's evidence of insect wood-boring activity.

You might just have an odd bunch of bored cedar waxwings, too, but that doesn't seem so likely to me!

Best,
Lisa