They were even more beautifully Bohemian than I thought they'd be. We found a small flock of seven Bohemian waxwings in a retirement community cul-de-sac in Traverse City, Michigan. This was yesterday, February 15, 2011, just after noon. That's life bird number 600-something...
The telling of the complete saga will have to wait for another day because I am now having to re-enter reality and there's simply no time for storytelling. But when I DO tell the tale, you should know that it will include: extremes of cold, a stretching of the time-space continuum, a pet store, frantic phone calls placed to unknown persons who MIGHT have seen a flock, many helpful messages from Michigan birders, a stern scolding for my list-serv faux pas, bad food, good beer, the first robin of spring, bear tracks, snow buntings, Geoff's questionable choice of chapeau, late nights, early mornings, doldrum afternoons, and planked whitefish.
But like I said, there's not enough time to get into all of that now.
Thanks for following along, my friends.
I'll see you out there with the birds.
6 comments:
Yay! Thanks for the "600 something" comment; makes those of us just beginning on the life list feel a little better . . .
Excellent! Such a beautiful bird.
Actually I can't even draw a waxwing. I never saw one here. In fact I have not seen a waxwing in the past 77 years. I see them in bird books and sometimes on blogs and your pictures of them are wonderful. A sight for my old sore eyes.
They're even more beautiful than the Cedars! Looking forward to hearing what it took to get there :D
Congratulations! Your adventures sound like a hoot! Can't wait for the story!
Bohemian Waxwings
with gray crest and breast
and rust-colored under-dress
caused Thompson and Heeter
(in a bit of a heat)
to brave cold and snow,
bad food, but good mead
To add to their Life Lists
a bird so sublime
they waxed rhapsodic
for the rest of the time
they were out birding
in cold, northern clime!
~Kathie Adams Brown 2-16-11
Oops, Looks like this rhapsody thing is contagious!
Congrats, BOTB! -HotH
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