Very pretty. This was my mystery bird this summer.

I could see a half dozen of them daily at the end of our block where the street drops down into a canyon, lots of tall evergreens on the drop down. I'd watch them mornings and evenings and couldn't decide what they were even with binoculars. From my neighbors deck and her binoculars, they were clearly waxwings and in a cedar tree top :) - I'd never seen them in the neighborhood before this year; they're gone now but hopefully will be back when they have a food source again.

They arrive in A group almost as if they are having a berry party and they pass them around. They have a bandit mask. They come to steal your berries. You might have more bohemian waxwings. They are the same except for the color under the tail. Cedar waxwing has white under the tail and bohemian is brown under the tail. :) I have berries out for them just in case they come again.

Here are some pic from US fish and wild life.
drunken party-goers from overripe fruit!
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Great pictures, Sam. From my yard, I could make out the colors and the crest but was missing the mask until I got one house closer. From what I understand, bohemian are just about unheard of in my neck of the woods, cedar a better possibility.

I'm not sure exactly what they were eating, none of us had them directly in our yards or gardens, they seemed to prefer the wilder area at the end of the block. Large patch of prolific raspberries beside my driveway...no waxwings appeared there, and none in the neighbors cherry or yellow plum tree either.

Wow ! It is voted the number one picture on the Week in pictures. I am sure it will stay that way with all the rose forum voting for it.

That is a great picture. I get to see Cedar Waxwings often because I have a holly outside my office window and also at home under my dining room bay window. A great bird that knows where the berries are.

Sam,
Those are great shots!
I have first hand experience regarding the beauty of this bird...
When I was in high school, (nearly 20 years ago), I loved art class but by no means was I an artist although I could draw birds very well. My art teacher, (In time, I became her pet student), encouraged me to find ways to keep drawing different birds, so I would goto zoos, nature & botanical gardens, and aviaries.
It was at a local botanical garden that I saw a pair of courting Waxwings. I was about 15' from them and they kept me entertained for nearly an hour while they passed Crabapple blossoms and petals back and forth to each other. This was the first and only time I drew more than one bird in a single drawing, and the first time I actually impressed myself with how the finished drawing turned out - considering I was on a park bench, on a foggy, misty, cool spring day, with my drawing supplies on my lap, on my bench, on the ground and whatever pencils my two ears would hold. LOL!
By the time I graduated from HS I had quite a portfolio of about 125 drawings. My art teacher asked if she could borrow them to show to her students, but that was just a ploy so she could have them professionally mounted in a scrapbook, and she gave it to me for a graduation present.
My 2 older sisters are the true artists in the family, and when my sister in Utah heard that they were all put together in a scrapbook she asked if I would be willing to send it to her for awhile, she was a starving artist at the time, so I sent it Fed-Ex and to make an even longer story short, the entire scrapbook was destroyed in a car accident.... I haven't drawn anything, (outside of drafting at work), since then. I did receive $2000 from part of my sister's accident settlement for them, (my sister insisted). If I ever do start drawing again, I think I'll draw roses. :)
Anyway, (sorry for the life story - it just brought back some good memories and some not-so good), it is a gorgeous bird and one that gave me an experience I will never forget.

Thanks for letting me hi-jack your thread Sam,
BC:)

Picture from US wild
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Harry ,
That is great that you see them to break the office work. I am lucky if I see them once a year.
Sam

Bro cad ,
I am sorry. I can sympathize with the loss of your drawings. It is a huge intangible loss. IMHO They were worth much more. DS wasn't able to recover or restore any of your drawings? Oh well. At least you still have the power inside of you. Check your Data Base! Maybe you can reprint.
Sam