Earlier this month I photographed Pine Grosbeaks in New London, NH, but failed to find any Bohemian Waxwings. So I went back last week, and, after driving around for quite a while, I spotted a large flock of birds flying into the top of a pine tree. I parked and checked them out with my binoculars. They were Bohemians.
I waited many minutes for them to decide to feed. Fortunately I had parked in a position that gave me a good view of the pine where they perched. Finally they flew down to two crabapple trees, one on each side of Route 114. I got a few quick shots before they flew to a bare tree nearby.
Then they headed south in groups of 20 or so until they were all out of sight. But I saw roughly where they were heading and managed to find them on a side street. As I arrived a few were already feeding on a small crabapple tree near the road. I parked nearby and for the next hour photographed them as they pretty much stripped the tree bare.
It was a challenge to get photos that were relatively uncluttered, but I worked at it. The waxwings pretty much ignored me, but flushed when trucks came by. I noticed if I got too close to the tree they would mostly be feeding on the other side of the tree.
Here is a sequence of a Bohemian plucking and swallowing a crabapple.
This next sequence shows a bird dropping one and wondering where it went.
Try as it might, the Bohemian below could not get the crabapple loose from the tree.
This bird did gymnastics to get the fruit.
There was an American flag nearby. So I positioned myself to get a few photos with it in the background.
The process continued until the tree was almost completely stripped.
Once the tree was no longer good pickings, the birds took to cleaning up the ground beneath it.
All in all it was a pleasant way to spend an hour.
If you would like to see photos of Pine Grosbeaks in New London taken earlier in January, you can CLICK HERE.