Friends, technology, and life bird encounters--you've gotta love them!
I left the house Saturday to run some errands and do some shopping after completing some morning housework. Northern Utah has been an ice box and we've been stuck in an inversion (high pressure keeping haze and cruddy air stuck in the valleys between the mountains) for a couple of weeks. Saturday's air was cleaner and the sun was shining so I decided to take my camera as a last-minute thought.
My cell phone rang just as I was standing in the checkout line at a store. I'm glad I actually heard it with all the noise around me and answered it. My good birding friend, Eric Peterson, was calling. He asked if I had gotten a Bohemian Waxwing yet and I told him I hadn't. He then informed me he was looking at some Bohemians even as he was speaking. Lucky for me he was just five minutes from where I was.
The Bohemians had flown from the area just before I arrived, but we soon heard their call and pinpointed a few in a nearby tree. A hawk flew in and the birds were gone in a flash, but they returned within a minute or so. We were able to get some diagnostic photos quickly and then hoped for some close ups. The birds flushed again just before Eric left so I went searching and found them again. Below are some of the images I was able to get during a 30-minute encounter with both Cedar and Bohemian Waxwings.
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| Bohemian Waxwing at Orem Technology Park in Orem, UT (Photo by Jeff Cooper) |
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| Cedar Waxwing at Orem Technology Park in Orem, UT (Photo by Jeff Cooper) |
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| Bohemian Waxwing at Orem Technology Park in Orem, UT (Photo by Jeff Cooper) |
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| Cedar Waxwing at Orem Technology Park in Orem, UT (Photo by Jeff Cooper) |
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| Bohemian Waxwing at Orem Technology Park in Orem, UT (Photo by Jeff Cooper) |
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| Cedar Waxwing at Orem Technology Park in Orem, UT (Photo by Jeff Cooper) |
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| Bohemian Waxwing Showing Wing and Tail Patterns at Orem Technology Park in Orem, UT (Photo by Jeff Cooper) |
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| Cedar Waxwing at Orem Technology Park in Orem, UT (Photo by Jeff Cooper) |
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| Cedar Waxwing at Orem Technology Park in Orem, UT (Photo by Jeff Cooper) |
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| Bohemian Waxwing Mixed With Cedar Waxwings at Orem Technology Park in Orem, UT (Photo by Jeff Cooper) |
Alright! Congratulations Jeff, and nice shots too.
ReplyDeleteWaxwings are in a class of cool all to their own.
Beautiful photos!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Laurence and Kiirsi. They really are awesome looking birds.
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