Posted in Autumn, Birds, Nature, Photography, Portraits, wildlife, tagged Bombycilla cedrorum, Canon 7D, Cedar Waxwing, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Tamron 150-600mm, Woodbridge VA on November 29, 2022| 6 Comments »
This Cedar Waxwing (Bombycilla cedrorum) had turned its head away from the light when I spotted it last week at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, but I love the way that the light coming from the side illuminated the pale yellow color on its belly. I really like the rakish masks and crests of Cedar Waxwings. Normally the tips of their tails are bright yellow in color, but the tail of this one seemed to have a reddish-orange coloration.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged Bombycilla cedrorum, Canon 50D, Cedar Waxwing, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Tamron 150-600mm, Woodbridge VA on December 12, 2021| 12 Comments »
I was thrilled when I spotted a flock of Cedar Waxwings (Bombycilla cedrorum) on Thursday at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, because I consider them to be one of the coolest-looking birds in our area. I love their rakish masks, punk-style crests, and yellow-tipped tails. I do not see them very often, but when I do, the Cedar Waxwings tend to be part of a large group.
The Cedar Waxwings moved from tree to tree, devouring berries as they went along. According to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, the Cedar Waxwing is one of the few North American birds that specializes in eating fruit and it can survive on fruit alone for several months. However, “Because they eat so much fruit, Cedar Waxwings occasionally become intoxicated or even die when they run across overripe berries that have started to ferment and produce alcohol.”
I was hoping to get some shots of these voracious birds in action, but they stayed high in the trees and were mostly hidden from view by branches. I am pretty happy, though, with the shots that I was able to get of these beautiful birds.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, poetry, wildlife, tagged Bombycilla cedrorum, Cedar Waxwing, Gaynor Kane, Karen Mooney, pandemic, Penned In, poetry, The Hedgehog Poetry Press on December 29, 2020| 30 Comments »
How are you coping with the pandemic? Most of us give a politely positive response to such a query. It is hard to admit to doubts and fears, so we generally mask our emotions just as tightly as we mask our noses and mouths.
I was in a contemplative, almost poetic mood yesterday as I was walking about in nature with my camera and played around with these words. If you had seen me, you would have noticed me mumbling to myself. (I decided to illustrate my thoughts with a masked bird, an immature Cedar Waxing (Bombycilla cedrorum) that I photographed in early November.) I’m not a poet, but here is where I ended up. (NOTE: The formatting may be messed up in the WordPress Reader, but is correct if you click through to the blog itself.)
A Masked Response
“I’m fine,” you reply
wearing a mask.
But are you really?
Have you been tending
to your mental well-being
or merely pretending?
Is your pretense
in the past tense
or are you still tense
in the present?
Take care, my friend,
I care.
Throughout this year I have been entertained, intrigued, and inspired by a whole group of real poets, primarily but not exclusively from the United Kingdom and Ireland, who have helped me to maintain my emotional well-being. Two of them, Karen Mooney and Gaynor Kane, recently published a short collection of poems, entitled Penned In, in which they responded to the impact of the pandemic on society and everyday life. It is an amazing work by two wonderful ladies. If you want to know more about the collection or would like to order your own copy, click on the title above.
Here is a link to a video version of one of Karen’s poems in the collection entitled “We’re All In This Together.”
Here is a link to a video version of one of Gaynor’s poems in the collection entitled “Learning BSL During Lockdown.”
Let me conclude with a stanza from one of the poems in their collection entitled “Stilling the World.”
“But think of the cost if you don’t stay home.
You’re not alone, we’re in this together,
won’t be forever, but some will never…”
Stay safe and healthy as we all prepare to begin a new year.
Michael Q. Powell.
Posted in Autumn, Birds, Nature, Photography, Portraits, wildlife, tagged Bombycilla cedrorum, Canon 50D, Cedar Waxwing, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Tamron 150-600mm, waxwing, Woodbridge VA on November 22, 2020| 22 Comments »
Not long ago I posted some shots of Cedar Waxwings (Bombycilla cedrorum) foraging for berries. In many of those shots, however, the beautiful birds were partially obscured by vegetation. On Monday this past week I managed to get a clearer view of a Cedar Waxwing at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge and captured this portrait image.
I really like the fact that this image shows the distinctive shape of this bird and its wonderful coloration. From top of its crested head to its yellow-tipped tail, the Cedar Waxwing is one of the most photogenic birds that I am privileged to photograph.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Autumn, Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged Bombycilla cedrorum, Canon 50D, Cedar Waxwing, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Tamron 150-600mm, Woodbridge VA on November 12, 2020| 24 Comments »
Many birds are pretty, but few are as sleek and stylish as Cedar Waxwings (Bombycilla cedrorum). I love their rakish black masks, slicked-back hair, and yellow-tipped tails.
I spotted a small flock of these wonderful birds on Tuesday at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, acrobatically snagging berries high in the trees. In the final photo, a Cedar Waxwing was upside-down as it reached for some colorful porcelain berries, a plant that is considered an invasive species in our area.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Autumn, Birds, Nature, Photography, Portraits, wildlife, tagged Bombycilla cedrorum, Canon 50D, Cedar Waxwing, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Tamron 150-600mm, waxwing, Woodbridge VA on December 7, 2018| 15 Comments »
Recently I served as the assistant for a fellow photographer Cindy Dyer as she shot some portraits in her studio. I had never before participated in that kind of a venture and I was a little shocked by the amount of coaching that the subject needed to ensure a proper head position, body position, and expression. Apparently most of us do not know how to act “naturally” in a way that will yield a goof portrait.
Fortunately many birds do not require these instructions. On Monday of this week, this Cedar Waxwing (Bombycilla cedrorum) took a break from its foraging and seemed to be posing for me. The bird decided that a profile shot would be good to show of its distinctive eye mask and that any hint of a double chin could be eliminated by slightly elongating its neck. Although the Cedar Waxwing tried to maintain a serious expression, I think I detect the beginning of a tiny smile.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Autumn, Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged Bombycilla cedrorum, Canon 50D, Cedar Waxwing, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Tamron 150-600mm, Woodbridge VA on November 6, 2018| 3 Comments »
A small flock of Cedar Waxwings (Bombycilla cedrorum) was active last week at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. They stayed high in the trees, but I did manage to get this shot of one of these distinctive and very cool-looking birds as they foraged among the plentiful berries.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife, tagged Bombycilla cedrorum, Canon 50D, Cedar Waxwing, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Tamron 150-600mm, Woodbridge VA on March 25, 2018| 12 Comments »
It was pretty cool yesterday morning to see a small flock of Cedar Waxwings (Bombycilla cedrorum) foraging at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. One of them was using gravity to help it ingest a berry that it had managed to found. If you look closely, you can see what appears to be the bird’s tongue.
It seemed to take a bit of effort, adjusting ever so slightly the head and mouth, but eventually the beautiful little bird was able to get the whole berry into its mouth. In many ways, it was similar to watching a Great Blue Heron swallow a fish, albeit on a greatly reduced scale.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Art, Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged Alexandria VA, Bombycilla cedrorum, Canon 50D, Cedar Waxwing, Huntley Meadows Park, Tamron 150-600mm telephoto on December 20, 2015| 12 Comments »
As I was trekking about at Huntley Meadows Park on Saturday, I was thrilled to spot this Cedar Waxwing (Bombycilla cedrorum), a species that don’t see very often at the park. Normally when I do see one, it is buried in the branches or is far away, but this bird posed for a moment on a branch and I was able to get an unobstructed shot of it. The Cedar Waxwing was in the shade, but its silhouette is unmistakable and I could identify it immediately.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Art, Birds, Nature, Photography, Portraits, tagged Alexandria VA, Bombycilla cedrorum, branch, Cameron Run, Canon 55-250mm zoom lens, Canon Rebel XT, Cedar Waxwing on November 24, 2012| 5 Comments »
Today was cloudy, windy, and overcast—definitely not an ideal day for taking photos. Sure, I like to have some clouds to cut down on harsh shadows, but you need sunlight to have shadows, and we sure did not have much of that today.
This afternoon I was walking on a path along a creek when small flock of birds flew into some nearby trees. They were pretty noisy and that attracted my attention. Looking though my telephoto zoom lens, I saw that they had an interesting silhouette, so I took some shots. They sky was already really light, but when I tweaked the exposure a little it went totally white and a really cool-looking bird emerged from the shadows. Usually I am pretty bad at identifying birds, but my initial Google search on the very distinctive yellow wing tips was successful in identifying this bird as a Cedar Waxwing (Bombycilla cedrorum).
Cedar Waxwing on a branch
According to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Cedar Waxwings feed on mostly fruit year-round, one of the few North American birds that specialize in eating fruit. One of the consequences of doing so, however, is that they sometimes get intoxicated from eating fermenting berries. The range map for this species suggests that they may be present year-round in this area (we are close to the northern boundary), but this is the first time that I have seen one.
This photo is more “artsy” than realistic, but I like its graphic character. It looks a bit to me like an illustration, in part, I guess, because of the white background.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 