Another large flock of Waxwings has appeared in the Peterborough area and once again I found myself camped by some Rowan trees waiting for these 'trillers' to come and feed so I could take yet more photos. The birds have descended upon an area very close to my house in the village of Werrington, the same area that a flock of up to 140 appeared in the last mass irruption year of 2010/11 and an area quite close to a busy road.
There I was, waiting patiently when a couple of other birders arrived. This couple then noticed a dead bird on the side of the road that I had not seen, which turned out to be a Waxwing. Very sad, to come all this way and be hit by a car. It did, however give us a chance to see the bird 'up close', marvelling at the plumage and of course, the red 'wax' tips of the secondary feathers that give the bird its' name.
Brian Stone arrived and we both looked at the bird, trying to see if we could sex or age it, but we couldn't. On return to his office Brian e-mailed me a link which showed the differences in the sex and age of the Waxwing. Click HERE if you wish to look at this link yourself (this has photos of live Waxwings, so nothing nasty). After perusal of this link I have come to the conclusion that the bird was a juvenile male bird, judging from the lack of yellow on the outer web of the primary feathers and the number of red 'wax' tips being five with the longest being 5.5mm. The birds' markings under the throat had a diffuse edge, but that is surely due to it being a juvenile, although I am not sure.
Below are some photos of the bird, showing some of the markings that I have explained above. WARNING, these are of a dead bird, although the bird is not deformed or marked in any way, it is dead, so please do not view if you are offended.
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| Showing how small the bird is, smaller than a Starling. The ruler is 15 cm or 6 inches long. |
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| Showing the diffuse edge of the black 'bib' under the throat. |
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| The red 'wax' tips on the secondary feathers with the tips of the outer webs of the primary feathers being yellowish-white and no markings on the inner webs. |
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| The head of the bird, showing the slight diffuse nature of the black 'bib'. |
Hi John...It is sad that the poor guy met his fate in this way, but it happens every day somewhere!!
ReplyDeleteGave you a good opportunity to observe the details of these gorgeous birds...you got me anxious to see them now!! : } Got to wait though!!
Grace
Hi Grace,
DeleteWhat you say is true, but it still made me feel a bit sad for him, coming all this way and not being able to go back :(
They are lovely birds, hope you get to see one soon.
J
Thats a great shame John.
ReplyDeleteIt is Roy :(
DeleteJ
Sad to lose one of a flock. However it is the way that we find out more and can examine at length. Naturalists have been doing this for centuries, you didn't cause it's death but have learnt a lot inspite of it.
ReplyDeleteWhat you say is true Charlotte and I must admit that it was interesting to see the bird so closely, gave me the opportunity to learn a few things.
DeleteJ
They are very beautiful birds. I haven't seen one here so had no idea they were so small. Sad day for the birds, but the pictures are very interesting.
ReplyDeleteThey are Gillian, very lovely plumage details. They are extremely small and they weigh next to nothing, you could hardly feel any weight when he was in my hand.
DeleteJ
Like you say John, very sad to come all this way, only to be hit by a car. Beautiful birds.
ReplyDeleteVery beautiful Keith. When standing watching the flock I was surprised that more weren't hit, they were flying so low over the road, but thankfully this was the only casualty that I saw.
DeleteJ
Not sure if then comment I just made went through, if it did please feel free to ditch this one.
ReplyDeleteThis is so very sad John. To make a long and ardous journey and then end its life in this way is such a terrible shame :-(
Thank you so much for the thoughtful warnings John. I edged my way down the page very slowly and carefully. I can just about bear it as long as it doesn't involve intentional cruelty by humans.
Hi Jan,
DeleteI wanted to post the pictures as I felt that they were of interest value, but wanted to make sure that no-one was hurt or upset by what I was doing. I am glad you were able to look, it was a fascinating, but very sad incident that I managed to learn something from. I , of course would have preferred the bird to be alive.
J
Shame the poor fella didn't make it through our winter :-( As others have said though . An opportunity to have a close up look . Love the red specks on the wings .
ReplyDeleteHi Mark,
DeleteThanks for the visit and the comment. It was a shame, but gave me a fascinating glimpse. The red tips are amazing, they do look like wax and are almost pearlescent in the light.
J