The long awaited day is here! Waxwings!“You could do worse than to spend your days staring at blue jays.”
― Saving Jemima: Life and Love with a Hard-Luck
They are a little later this year, but they are HERE.
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| This is from 2 years ago. I sort of tweaked it. |
We have been tracking black over ripe berries in the house for a week or more.
I don't know if I wrote this tale before...
We have a friend in the Austin area who is an animal rescuer and one day, about this time of year, several moms brought their children with sick birds in little boxes.
He checked them over and told the worried kids and moms that they were not sick.
They were DRUNK.
It seems that when berries from various Yaupon and other bushes ripen and fall, they can ferment.
Our friend "drenched" ....(flushed their bellies with water)
and they staggered around for a bit and when they were more active, he returned the birds in their boxes to the happy moms and kids.
I will follow up with pictures if I can catch them. The Waxwings are furtive. They will come in, perch high in the tallest, leafless trees.
I have "felt" their arrival at times when I was gardening.
They will start on the berries on the "outside" of the bushes that are in our courtyard. This will go on for days and when they have gleaned all there were, they will attack the berries on the window side of the house.
Finally, they will begin "clean up". Gathering all the ones that were missed.
They have been here for several days and we never spied them as we are not out in the garden area much anymore.
They will sit on the top branches of the trees, and then, as if told by the leader bird to go get em. They come in in groups of about 10. It is a feeding frenzy for a few minutes and they leave. Soon, another group will fly in and go at the berries. This will go on until every berry is gone from the 3 yaupon bushes
Last year, they even went to our bird baths for water and a quick dunk.
Now to wait to,hopefully,capture this year's visitors!
