A dull day in Kettering (yesterday) was brightened up here, in the School Lane car park, by a flock of Waxwings which spent most of their time in the tops of the two Alders (what fine trees they are) shown here.
I knew these birds had been here for a couple of days so I popped out to see them because Waxwings are that type of bird. Not a rare bird, but beautiful ones, and unpredictable in their occurrence, and that makes them a treat when they turn up. They are a particular treat if they get as far as Northamptonshire.
Car parks are good for Waxwings – often supermarket car parks – and on @WaxwingsUK I see mention of them in Morrisons in Hunslet, Morrisons in Preston Docks, near Tesco in Dunblane, Morrisons in Morley, Tesco in Pitsea and Asda in Bury St Edmunds as well as in various pub car parks and at Tottenham Hale station.
Look for them feeding on berries – and once the berries have gone the Waxwings will move on too.
These Waxwings were feeding on a berry-laden bush over the top of the blue car in the photo above (see below). They would swoop down, some of them, and hang acrobatically feeding on berries apparently more or less oblivious of the people passing by. Most of the people were completely oblivious of the Waxwings too, which was a bit of a shame, as they are cracking birds. I showed a few people the birds and one of them was quite interested – but only one.
Since these birds arrived in School Lane on Wednesday their numbers increased from 12, to 17, to 22, to 24. This suggests that there are Waxwings swilling around and coalescing at food sources.
So keep your eyes open because these occasional beautiful visitors are a treat. And you might see them out of your window at work or home, or on your commute or when doing the weekly shop tomorrow. Good luck!
Here’s an awful photo of where they were feeding, taken on my phone, in the rain, out of the car window – but, largely by accident, there are three Waxwings in view! It won’t be my entry for Bird Photographer of the Year 2018, but it does show typical Waxwing habitat.
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I had one fly over this morning into a local small orchard whilst out and about. They are just starting to appear in Cambridge – we had a flock around last week which have moved on but we don’t know of many right now.
For anyone anywhere who gets good views of waxwings, there have been lots colour-ringed in northern Scotland, and some are starting to be noted elsewhere in the UK as they disperse south – details here http://grampianringing.blogspot.co.uk/
There weren’t any Waxwings in School Lane when I lived in Kettering – but there weren’t any Alders ( or other trees ) there then!
Trevor – it’s all change here now then!