Author Topic: Waxwings (Read 4129 times)

RJ · « **on:** 19 November, 2008, 12:51:14 pm »

I stopped this morning to look at a flock of 50 or so waxwings on South Lauder Road where it meets (phnarr) Dick Place. There seems to be an invasion of these dinky little birds.

Two dead ones collected by colleagues yesterday from under a window in the Dean Village (along with a sparrowhawk) will go to the National Museum of Scotland. One still had a berry in its bill.

Adjectives? Smooth, crested, peachy.

clarion · « **Reply #1 on:** 19 November, 2008, 12:56:50 pm »

A lovely bird. Sorry to hear about the dead ones.

PaulR · « **Reply #2 on:** 19 November, 2008, 01:01:25 pm »

A couple round Forest Hill this week. It's rather nice to be reminded that Winter is approaching.

Pingu · « **Reply #3 on:** 19 November, 2008, 02:28:59 pm »

They have quite a nice trilling song.

Wowbagger · « **Reply #4 on:** 19 November, 2008, 02:36:46 pm »

We had some fairly large flocks in Essex two or three years ago. Haven't seen any recently.

Rig of Jarkness · « **Reply #5 on:** 19 November, 2008, 08:06:15 pm »

Quote from: RJ on 19 November, 2008, 12:51:14 pm

I stopped this morning to look at a flock of 50 or so waxwings on South Lauder Road where it meets (phnarr) Dick Place. There seems to be an invasion of these dinky little birds.

Excellent, this is just a few minutes from us, I'll keep an eye out for them! Funnily enough I've only ever seen waxwings once before and this too was in a front garden in Dick Place, a little group of them about 10 years ago. A flock of 50 sounds very exciting !

RJ · « **Reply #6 on:** 20 November, 2008, 11:17:19 am »

They did look pretty flighty. They'll be looking for berries - cotoneaster, classically, but anything will do. Once they've stripped the branches bare, they'll be off somewhere else looking for more.

Rig of Jarkness · « **Reply #7 on:** 20 November, 2008, 06:38:39 pm »

I rode down Dick Place on my way to work this morning - alas, not a sausage ! Oh well, I'll keep looking...

Pingu · « **Reply #8 on:** 21 November, 2008, 11:16:12 am »

Click on number 9

Rig of Jarkness · « **Reply #9 on:** 21 November, 2008, 05:55:51 pm »

Or how about this photie from the soc site ?
The SOC - photo viewer

RJ · « **Reply #10 on:** 03 December, 2008, 02:28:50 pm »

Wow. Just back from looking at a flock of about 200 on the north side of Queensferry Road betweeen Queensferry Terrace/Belford Road and Orchard Brae. Sitting around in the sun and eating big berries from a large ornamental shrub.

Update: at least 3 of the birds were in Aberdeen last month, where they had been fitted with colour rings ...

mattc · « **Reply #11 on:** 03 December, 2008, 04:25:53 pm »

These critters were on R4 the other day. MAY have been this:

BBC iPlayer - World On The Move: Great Animal Migrations: 02/12/2008
apparently they move south as the temperature drops. Now in the West Midlands. Apparently this is a good year for them here.

They like supermarket car parks due to the variety of berry-bearing trees and bushes.

blackpuddinonnabike · « **Reply #12 on:** 03 December, 2008, 04:28:19 pm »

Quote from: RJ on 03 December, 2008, 02:28:50 pm

Wow. Just back from looking at a flock of about 200 on the north side of Queensferry Road betweeen Queensferry Terrace/Belford Road and Orchard Brae. Sitting around in the sun and eating big berries from a large ornamental shrub.

Really? Dammit! I'd go tomorrow but I've got something organised at lunchtime...

RJ · « **Reply #13 on:** 04 December, 2008, 10:33:20 am »

Quote from: RJ on 19 November, 2008, 12:51:14 pm

I stopped this morning to look at a flock of 50 or so waxwings on South Lauder Road where it meets (phnarr) Dick Place. There seems to be an invasion of these dinky little birds.

Adjectives? Smooth, crested, peachy.

Around 60 at about the same spot this morning. I heard them before I saw them and had to wait at the side of the road for a few minutes before I actually saw them. There's a recording of a single waxwing calling (very loudly) here: http://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/birdguide/name/w/waxwing/index.asp . Imagine lots of little trills like that, each quieter, but all going on at once and you'll get the idea of what a flock sounds like.

A bit further on, I found a much larger flock (at least 3-400) in trees on the edge of the Lidl carpark on Dalry Road, just east of where it's crossed by the Western Approach Road.

Wowbagger · « **Reply #14 on:** 04 December, 2008, 11:29:24 am »

Only two sightings of waxwings have been recorded on the Southend RSPB site this winter, both on 12th November.

RJ · « **Reply #15 on:** 05 December, 2008, 09:33:19 am »

Quote from: blackpuddinonnabike on 03 December, 2008, 04:28:19 pm

Quote from: RJ on 03 December, 2008, 02:28:50 pm
Wow. Just back from looking at a flock of about 200 on the north side of Queensferry Road betweeen Queensferry Terrace/Belford Road and Orchard Brae. Sitting around in the sun and eating big berries from a large ornamental shrub.

Really? Dammit! I'd go tomorrow but I've got something organised at lunchtime...

Well - they were still there yesterday (Thursday). I could hear waxwings again on South Lauder Road and there were about 30 at Dalry Road again on the way to work this morning.

Rig of Jarkness · « **Reply #16 on:** 20 December, 2008, 12:51:29 pm »

At last, I've seen some ! Albeit a rubbish view as I was on the chaingang at the time doing a wind assisted 25 mph through Longniddry. Enough of a view to know it was them though !

RJ · « **Reply #17 on:** 06 January, 2009, 01:53:03 pm »

One of the Queensferry Road/Aberdeen birds turned up in Southport over the holidays ...

blackpuddinonnabike · « **Reply #18 on:** 06 January, 2009, 01:57:34 pm »

We saw some Redwings on the Meadows the other day - is that a common sight for Edinburgh?

RJ · « **Reply #19 on:** 06 January, 2009, 05:27:20 pm »

Well - lots more redwings than waxwings turn up each winter, but I tend to think of redwings as "rural" and waxwings as "(sub)urban". A bit of an over- simplification, I know. The redwings will be looking for berries too ...

RJ · « **Reply #20 on:** 24 November, 2010, 05:55:45 pm »

Quote from: RJ on 04 December, 2008, 10:33:20 am

A bit further on, I found a much larger flock (at least 3-400) in trees on the edge of the Lidl carpark on Dalry Road, just east of where it's crossed by the Western Approach Road.

There seem to be quite a lot of waxwings around again this year, by all accounts. There were 40-odd close to the Dalry Road Lidl (link to map above) this morning; 30-odd close to Comely bank cemetery 10 days ago; and apparently a flock of 150-odd in the area around Carrick Knowe primary school yesterday.