A New Bird

Happy Boxing Day! As you probably don't recall, I got a heated birdbath for Christmas last year. It worked for about two months, then mysteriously gave up the ghost. I debated about putting it up this winter without the heater working because I want to attract birds to my garden. I can't put up bird feeders because the squirrels always tear them down. Well, conundrum solved -- I got a birdbath heater for Christmas, so hopefully this will be more durable and last at least one winter.

This aberrantly warm December has meant lots of bird activity in the garden, even without a birdbath. One foggy morning, I noticed a flock of birds in one of the trees. I suspected they were starlings (boo!), but with a smidge of optimism, I got out my camera to photograph them through the zoom lens to determine whether they were.

I got a very pleasant surprise; instead of starlings, they were Cedar Waxwings.

I'd never before seen a Cedar Waxwing, much less had a flock of them visit my garden. Singly and in pairs,

they swooped down to the crabapple tree to munch on the shriveling fruit.

The flock has since moved on to more abundant pickings, leaving the few remaining fruits to the more desperate of the squirrels.

Cedar Waxwings are year 'round residents of Illinois and most of the northern United States. They eat only fruit. According to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, "Because they eat so much fruit, Cedar Waxwings occasionally become intoxicated ... when they run across overripe berries that have started to ferment." Had I know this at the time, I would have stayed to see whether any of them were guilty of FWI (flying while intoxicated).