{"id":59603,"date":"2019-08-19T05:47:24","date_gmt":"2019-08-19T11:47:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=59603"},"modified":"2025-05-10T12:18:31","modified_gmt":"2025-05-10T17:18:31","slug":"cedar-waxwings-perched-and-on-the-wing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2019\/08\/19\/cedar-waxwings-perched-and-on-the-wing\/","title":{"rendered":"Cedar Waxwings – Perched And On The Wing"},"content":{"rendered":"

Cedar Waxwings<\/h2>\n

\"AdultAdult Cedar Waxwing perched in willows – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/2500, ISO 640, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

I had a nice time photographing Cedar Waxwings yesterday morning as they perched in willows next to a creek and while they were on the wing catching insects in the Wasatch Mountains.<\/p>\n

As usual I heard the waxwings before I saw them and pointed them out in the canyon. The stand of willows is on the far side of the creek which is actually a nice distance for using my 500mm with the 1.4x teleconverter attached. Most of the time.<\/p>\n

I liked how the adult Cedar Waxwing in this photo was framed by the leaves and branches of the willow.<\/p>\n

\"FluffedFluffed up adult Cedar Waxwing in a stand of willows – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/2000, ISO 640, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

And in this image I liked how the waxwing had fluffed up its feathers and its crest. The touch of blue sky in the background added a little visual interest too.<\/p>\n

At one point I noticed a small mayfly type of insect briefly land on my lens and I suspect that might be what the waxwings are chasing after in the air.<\/p>\n

\"BeggingBegging Cedar Waxwing – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/2000, ISO 640, +0.7 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

I mentioned that the willows being across the creek were a nice distance for using my 500mm with the 1.4x teleconverter attached and most of the time it was except for when I took the series of images of this adult Cedar Waxwing. You might wonder why so I will explain.<\/p>\n

This adult was actually to the left and below another waxwing and it appeared to be begging for something from the other adult and I could not get both birds fully inside my viewfinder because the other bird was higher in the willow than this one was.<\/p>\n

I could have turned my camera vertically but then I wouldn’t have had enough width to fit both birds in the frame without clipping parts of the waxwing that kept fluttering its wings so I kept my camera as it was and cropped the headless bird out in post processing. I thought that was really a shame because the other waxwing as just as sharp as this one was.<\/p>\n

\"AdultAdult Cedar Waxwing lift off – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/1600, ISO 640, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

I didn’t manage to take any decent flight photos of the Cedar Waxwings yesterday but I liked this photo of one of the waxwings as it lifted off from the willows.<\/p>\n

I think that in order to get nice flight photos at this location I’d need to get out of the vehicle I was using as a “mobile blind” which restricts my movements and set up my tripod where I’d have the ability to quickly point my lens higher or lower.<\/p>\n

That way I wouldn’t have to bother with rolling the window of the “blind” up and down or move to exactly where I want to be at any given moment.<\/p>\n

Life is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/a><\/span> to see more of my Cedar Waxwing photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I had a nice time photographing Cedar Waxwings yesterday morning as they perched in willows next to a creek and while they were on the wing catching insects in the Wasatch Mountains.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":144154,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27,4597,4594,26,773],"tags":[4004,740,4599,3940,4598,4309,1799,4282,4069,5916,4600,902],"class_list":["post-59603","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-cedar-waxwings","category-morgan-county","category-utah","category-wasatch-mountains","tag-adult","tag-begging","tag-bombycilla-cedrorum","tag-canyon","tag-cedar-waxwing","tag-fluffed-up","tag-insects","tag-lift-off","tag-mountains","tag-waxwing","tag-waxwings","tag-willows"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t