Sam, Those are great shots! I have first hand experience regarding the beauty of this bird... When I was in high school, (nearly 20 years ago), I loved art class but by no means was I an artist although I could draw birds very well. My art teacher, (In time, I became her pet student), encouraged me to find ways to keep drawing different birds, so I would goto zoos, nature & botanical gardens, and aviaries. It was at a local botanical garden that I saw a pair of courting Waxwings. I was about 15' from them and they kept me entertained for nearly an hour while they passed Crabapple blossoms and petals back and forth to each other. This was the first and only time I drew more than one bird in a single drawing, and the first time I actually impressed myself with how the finished drawing turned out - considering I was on a park bench, on a foggy, misty, cool spring day, with my drawing supplies on my lap, on my bench, on the ground and whatever pencils my two ears would hold. LOL! By the time I graduated from HS I had quite a portfolio of about 125 drawings. My art teacher asked if she could borrow them to show to her students, but that was just a ploy so she could have them professionally mounted in a scrapbook, and she gave it to me for a graduation present. My 2 older sisters are the true artists in the family, and when my sister in Utah heard that they were all put together in a scrapbook she asked if I would be willing to send it to her for awhile, she was a starving artist at the time, so I sent it Fed-Ex and to make an even longer story short, the entire scrapbook was destroyed in a car accident.... I haven't drawn anything, (outside of drafting at work), since then. I did receive $2000 from part of my sister's accident settlement for them, (my sister insisted). If I ever do start drawing again, I think I'll draw roses. :) Anyway, (sorry for the life story - it just brought back some good memories and some not-so good), it is a gorgeous bird and one that gave me an experience I will never forget. Thanks for letting me hi-jack your thread Sam, BC:)

I usually see them in the fall when they come back through. They flock to the ligustrum trees and eat the berries. I loving seeing them. They are such happy active little birds. Linda, when I was a kid I remember birds eating China berries that had fallen from my grandmothers tree. She'd laugh because they would stagger around drunk afterwards as the berries were somewhat fermented. Maybe the fermenting process destroys some of the poison. I just now looked up 'drunk birds' on line. As well as speaking to the subject of 'drunks' the article says birds can eat without harm poison seeds that would kill other creatures. Here is a link that might be useful: Drunk birds and other interesting things ....

MM, What a wonderful experience! As you have seen, the story that birds will abandon babies and nests if they smell humans is an old wive's tale. I have been fortunate to have bluebirds nest in my yard, and they will even tolerate a nest change when it has been extremely necessary. Some species are more wary than others, but most have a very poor sense of smell. I have found most of the songbirds that actually take care of their young (other than cowbirds) are actually very loyal to them. They will risk their own safety (to a point) to insure the babies' survival. Nature does bless them with enough sense to preserve their own life in extreme threats (like wasps) however. After all, baby songbirds have a 1 in 2 chance of making through the first year. It wouldn't make sense for the breeding pair to throw all caution to the wind and give up their own lives. They can always go on and raise another brood afterall.

Finally saw our first waxwings this week in our blueberries. To me, the arrival of waxwings in southern Il seems strange. I associate the waxwing as a northern bird. However, they don't arrive here till mid June and stay sometimes two or three months before disappearing. Most birds migrate through here much earlier and stay a month at the most. We also are enjoying our towhee every single day as he visits the ground surrounding our feeders. I only see one though. We are fortunate to have loads of cardinals; and, yesterday, he spent a good half hour chasing one particular female around. I think the poor lovelorn thing must be getting desperate. Finally, our summer tanagers are back, and I have been blessed with some real close encounters with them. They like to hang out at our red raspberries and blackberries and have a very unique vocalization.