Stripped Clean

This morning there are no red berries remaining on the tall holly trees near my driveway. The migrating cedar waxwings had eaten all of them by sunset yesterday evening. Here's one of the little songbirds in silhouette, just at sundown, a moment before he hopped to the ground below.

And here he is on the ground, a moment before he flew away.

The Cedar Waxwings' Visit

Every year, usually in February, the cedar waxwings flock in and strip the holly trees bare of all their berries within a couple of days. It's a breathtaking sight.

I tried to take a picture of them this morning as they were fluttering in and out among the topmost branches, but a trio of crows showed up and scared the little songbirds off.

They are quite late on their northward journey this year, and I was very glad to see them arrive safely this morning.

Here are some pictures by other photographers that I'd like to share, all licensed under the creative commons license, the terms of which are given on this page.

And a link to a video. If you watch to the end, you'll catch glimpses of the neat crest as the little bird looks around, and of its sharp wingtips as it flexes its wings.

Finally, here is a view of the top of the holly tree where I first caught sight of dozens of my temporary little feathered visitors at brealfast, but sadly, without my camera in hand at that time.