Bay Island Nature

Cedar Waxwing with its favorite winter food, berries. ( Cheapshot/Wikimedia ) by Sharol Nelson-Embry As I was out walking the dog just before another big rainstorm hit our Island City the other day, I noticed large flocks of birds in the bare tree branches. As I paused and my bird dog lifted her head in interest, I thought they were probably ordinary, non-native starlings. After parsing out their calls, though, I was excited to find it was actually two separate flocks — one of robins and one of cedar waxwings!   The waxwings are one of my favorite birds and among the first I could readily identify in my college ornithology class. I was so excited about them, that I showed them to my husband when we were dating. He was later able to point them out on campus to another pair of students that were interested in them. He told them the birds name and let them know how special they were. That was his first time as a “bird whisperer.” He’s never forgotten it. Notice t...

The weekends have been starting slow this month. The birdsong outside promising a bright morning, only to open my eyes to yet another dreary start. The birds don't seem to mind. In fact, the Coopers hawk family seems to be thriving. We've had several "incidents" on my back fence involving a sparrow and dove who entered the hawk food chain. One of them while I was watering the flowers nearby. That was quite stunning as I turned to try and identify what large bird flew into the plum tree, only to watch a small bird jet out the other side. The hawk proceeded to chase it down then alight on the fence not 10 feet from me with the still form in its talons. One of our local hawk watchers keeps a nest count in our city and let me know we've had at least five Coopers hawk nests successfully fledge young this year. So, though I love the towhees, hummers, and sparrows, there's nothing quite as thrilling as Coopers hawks in the neighborhood!