I haven't done much birding this spring but did sneak out for a quick loop
at Middle Patuxent. It was worth the trip for the best view of Cedar
Waxwings I've ever experienced. About a dozen, at or below eye-level,
Rembrandt lighting, and close enough to fill 3/4 of a binocular field. I was
able to examine every detail, back, front, and side, and even a look inside
one yawning adult. Many were imitating flycatchers, while one juvenile was
apparently just trying to figure out what to do. It was a photographer's
dream, or in my case, nightmare since I was, as usual, unequipped.
Nevertheless I have some great mind imprints of these slick, hand-painted
masterpieces. A Northern Waterthrush teetered about close by, while a
Kingfisher patrolled the river, firing his machine gun in random bursts. The
Waxwings were mostly in a fallen tree on the river bank where one of the two
streams intersects with the river. Although Waxwings aren't noted for
staying put if they're breeding nearby I guess they might. Also nice looks
at Pileated W and Indigo Bunting.

Meanwhile at home my hand-feeding Catbird of three years has learned to
search for me when I'm away from my desk. If I don't show up for work, i.e.
to feed him, in time he will soon show up at the sliding glass door in the
living room, bill pressed up against the glass. Even when there is perfectly
good food in the feeder right below him, he wants to be fed from my hand.
I'm not sure where this relationship is going...

fdp

--------------------------------------------------------------------
Fred Pierce (DNRC)- 
Mid-Atlantic Aviation on the Web - http://www.avialantic.com
---------------------------------------------------------------------