{"id":71503,"date":"2020-07-03T06:39:53","date_gmt":"2020-07-03T12:39:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=71503"},"modified":"2026-02-02T05:26:42","modified_gmt":"2026-02-02T11:26:42","slug":"cedar-waxwings-plus-a-singing-mystery-bird-revealed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2020\/07\/03\/cedar-waxwings-plus-a-singing-mystery-bird-revealed\/","title":{"rendered":"Cedar Waxwings Plus A Singing Mystery Bird Revealed"},"content":{"rendered":"

Among the birds I photographed yesterday were two species that have crests which are Belted Kingfishers and Cedar Waxwings.<\/p>\n

I enjoyed a slow, relaxing drive in the Wasatch Mountains yesterday morning, the sky was clear, the birds were great, and I felt calmness wash over me. I love that feeling.<\/p>\n

\"AlertAlert adult Cedar Waxwing watching other waxwings \u2013 Nikon D500, f8, 1\/1000, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

I was delighted to see my friend Loren Nebeker pull up behind me on the road and I motioned for him to pull forward so that he could photograph the kingfishers too.<\/p>\n

I haven’t had time to go through all of the kingfisher images I took but I was able to edit three of the waxwing photos to share this morning.<\/p>\n

The first Cedar Waxwings I saw were in Summit County and they kept flying in and out of my view. A few times the waxwings actually landed and I was able to take a few photos of them perched high up in a nearby stand of trees. The Cedar Waxwing in my photo has an alert posture because it was watching other nearby waxwings flying past where it was perched.<\/p>\n

\"AdultAdult Cedar Waxwing close up \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/800, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

I saw other waxwings flying overhead as I drove at a leisurely pace along the dusty dirt road but my next opportunity to take images of them was in Morgan County where the Cedar Waxwings and Gray Catbirds were feasting on the newly ripened berries of some Black Twinberry Honeysuckles.<\/p>\n

As soon as I stopped my Jeep two Cedar Waxwings popped into view. The waxwings were close so I took portraits of them perched among the honeysuckles.\u00a0 It isn’t often that I have this species in my viewfinder so near to where I am so I indulged myself and took a slew of them.<\/p>\n

\"CloseClose up adult Cedar Waxwing perched in honeysuckles \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/800, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

I adore the masked appearance of Cedar Waxwings and their soft, downy looking feathers too.<\/p>\n

A noisy pickup drove past and flushed the waxwings but not before I was pleased with the images I took. I sat for a few minutes to see if the waxwings would come back and when they didn’t I decided to head down the road.<\/p>\n

I took a few hummingbird photos not far from where I photographed the close up waxwings and then decided to check out a few more spots that I’ve been wanting stop and sit at to see what birds might show up and that is where I heard a bird singing that I couldn’t identify. I couldn’t see the bird so I decided to pull out my phone and do a video recording hoping that I could identify the mystery bird later on.<\/p>\n<\/div>

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