Friday Ramble - Just Passing Through

Bohemian Waxwing (Bombycilla garrulus)  

The Bohemian Waxwing passes through the village in October as it heads south to its winter habitat and again in mid-to-late March when it flies back to its summer breeding grounds in the boreal forests of the far north.

Traveling in madcap flocks, Bohemians stop along their way to fill up on berries, cherries and other fruit, and their appearance makes me smile, a fine thing indeed this year. The birds fly in circles around the old crabapple tree, gleefully dance from branch to branch, make crude comments to the nearby crows and starlings, laugh at their own jokes and pelt each other with frozen crabapples.

I thought these rowdy visitors were Cedar Waxwings until I noticed their peachy colored faces, rufous (red) undertail coverts and white wing streaks, also their scarlet-tipped secondaries, often a little harder to see. By the time they departed, the old crabapple was bare, and there were bits of frozen "crabs" all over the front yard. In came the crows and made short work of the leavings.

Bohemians are seasonal harbingers, and their appearance in the front yard in March often means that springtime is on its way.  This year, perhaps they should have waited for a few weeks - we still have a long way to go.