Waxwings in Ipswich
"Surprise arrival of rare ‘cartoon birds’ on random Suffolk street causes a stir" so read the headline in a local newspaper this January!
"But these rare waxwings are causing something of a stir after flying all the way from Scandinavia and randomly picking an Ipswich street to nest for winter.
The 20 or so of the brightly coloured birds are currently camped out on telegraph poles, television aerials and in trees in Defoe Road - picking Suffolk, perhaps surprisingly, for its warmer winter climate.
They have brought with them a flock of their own - in the form of nature lovers with binoculars and cameras, who have travelled from far and wide to capture a glimpse of the rare birds famous for their plump shape and prominent crest.
In scenes watchers have described as something out of a cartoon, the creatures fly down from their perches to eat berries from trees, comically tossing the fruit up in the air before taking a bite."
Waxwings are starling-sized, stout-bodied, short-legged birds with an upstanding, pointed crest. They have black throats, black wings with white, yellow and waxy red markings and yellow-tipped tails.Just one species breeds in Europe and visits the UK erratically in winter during 'irruption years'. Irruptions occur when population increases and shortages of food, particularly rowan berries, in its normal European range trigger large movements of birds to the south and west.
What could we do but join the flock with our cameras, and many layers of warm clothing in the chill morning.?
We had not been waiting very long when down they came! I must confess we were a little surprised to see them that quickly.
The perched on tv aerials, in the trees and then onto the electric poles and wires.
From never having seen one in my life to 15 on an aerial just above me - magic. There were several more near these ones, but the lens only allowed me to see this bunch. All in all a great morning and one to remember for a long time.
Comments