We started getting Cedar Waxwings in our yard a few years ago. They stop in late-May to early-June and absolutely swarm our cherry tree. At first I wanted them to go away instead of eating our cherries, but I've since embraced them and would rather have the photo opportunity than the cherries. I've gotten a lot of photos, but didn't need a blind. They are so busy with the cherries that as long as I don't make any sudden movements, they don't take off. I can probably manage to get within 15 feet of the tree, if not closer.
Wow, that's awesome! I see them occasionally in the summer months, but not in large numbers. These guys were pretty tolerant of me and I probably could have done without the blind, but some of the other birds flying around get a bit more nervous.
Another fun video, I also really enjoy photographing the birds and animals in my back yard. I have a Mountain Ash tree that at this time of the year has a load of red berries that the birds love. We just got a dump of snow and I have been getting some great shots of the Anna's Hummingbirds in the snow. Our Anna's are here year round and it is amazing that they can survive in any kind of weather. Last winter when it was really cold I could count as many as 25 Anna's sitting in my big cedar tree. We get numerous species of birds in the yard throughout the year and also at times get Racoons. I am just waiting for the arrival of the Stellar Jays that show up every winter. I love your videos from the wilderness but it is nice to see that you also have lots of fun at home. Thanks again for all your hard work putting these videos together and it is so nice to see your number of subscribers climbing every week. Have a great week!!
Thanks so much, Keith! I bet you get some amazing photos when you get some snow with the Mountain Ash berries and the birds. Seems like an amazing combination. I've always found it fascinating that you get Hummingbirds year round, ours all left months ago. Stellars Jays are absolutely gorgeous birds, still working on photographing them though. I can't wait to see what images you get this winter! Have a great week!
I have a blind like yours and I've used it a good bit. But only in the back yard. We have about all the species of small native birds here that I would find out in the woods and fields and I can get closer and get a better variety shots here. So I do. I have one setup on our back porch. A scrap piece of plywood laid across a corner on the banisters. I put a wild cherry limb for a vertical perch with peeling bark at the back. Then I bored 1/2-inch holes and I loaded them with peanut butter. I also use seasonal plants, old roots, pieces of limbs, dried grass, weeds, etc to create a diorama feeding station. Some peanuts and sunflower hearts along with the peanut butter attract the birds and I can sit there and make fine pictures under the shelter of the porch roof. When I use the blind in the back yard I have to move it regularly or it will kill the grass. I have two or three locations to use.
That sounds like an awesome setup! I have a few bird feeders I keep around the yard, but I've never set up a feeding station like you described and I've never photographed the birds around the feeders, some good ideas to think about. I've noticed I get a lot of non native species when I fill the feeders with generic seed mixes, but when I do things like sunflower seeds, meal worms and cracked corn, the native species come in way more. I'm going to dedicate a section of my yard to be a native wildflower patch, I'm excited to see what species of birds I can get coming in to feed on them!
@@JimmyBreitenstein Good luck with your project, Jimmy. You can play it by ear and make changes as you feel like it. It is a project that will evolve over time. Don't forget that water is just as important as the feed all year round.
The waxwing tossing the berry shot was very nice. I'm looking for waxwings but haven't found them yet. We are on the very edge of their year-round range here in the northwest corner of SC but there should be some here during winter.
Thanks so much, I was pretty pleased with that clip myself! I'm glad I got these guys when I did, because I haven't seen much of them since. Best of luck to you in your search for them, they're such fun little birds!
Some good info, Jimmy. The Waxwings are beautiful for sure. I get a flock or two that stopover at my place every year on their way to, wherever they are heading. Been mostly moving snow here. Got lots of it so far this season. Have been photographing a few deer and a flock of turkeys that have taken up residence on my property. Have a good one now!
Thanks so much, Terry! I see them from time to time all throughout the year, but to me they just seem like winter birds 😁 I'm grateful for this snow we've been getting, we need it so badly. I'm glad you're finding some wildlife to photograph, always a fun challenge in the winter time. Have a great week!
As a coincidence I was also looking for (Bohemian) waxwings this weekend in my neighborhood, but sadly couldn't find them. Got a hare, white-backed woodpecker, hawfinch, fieldfares, blackbird and so on instead. At -10C temperatures the braches of small trees looked really nice under the birds and I don't consider this search a waste of time. Thanks for the tips! And I find the footage incredibly good. American waxwings look similar to the ones in Eurasia, but the difference is in the details and so Your video was so much fun to watch. Thanks for sharing!
Thanks a bunch, Ott! We have the Bohemian Waxwings here as well, but I've still never seen them. Sounds like you were able to see quite a few species, great job! It's such a wonderful time of year for bird photography, I think the cold really really presents a lot of opportunities to add different features into photos like frost, ice, etc. I hope you have a wonderful week!
Cedar Waxwings are fun to watch! They love their berries too! They have all gone south for the winter. I saw what I thought were a new to me species last August but then when I observed them bit longer they were juvenile Cedar Waxwings. A bit smaller, more gray and duller in color. I love the way they can look different in different lighting. I was down with Covid most of November and now I need some cold weather gear so I haven't been out shooting anything in a while now.
They really are amazing birds to watch and photograph! I saw a few juveniles in this group and they definitely look a little different, a little more drab and less flashy. I hope you're recovering well, have a wonderful week!
Thanks so much! It's an ameristep popup blind, I've got a gear list with a link to it on my website (link in the description). It's really easy to fold back up by yourself after you've practiced a few times.
Cedar Waxwings are beautiful. Colors on the tail and tip of their wings are amazing.
They really are so pretty. It was surprisingly tricky to get pictures with the wing and tail colors showing. I'll keep trying though 😁
Waxwings are really beautiful birds, even though I've never seen them here. Fantastic the head crest and the yellow tail. Thanks for the many tips!
They are so pretty, one of the most elegant birds in my opinion!
We started getting Cedar Waxwings in our yard a few years ago. They stop in late-May to early-June and absolutely swarm our cherry tree. At first I wanted them to go away instead of eating our cherries, but I've since embraced them and would rather have the photo opportunity than the cherries. I've gotten a lot of photos, but didn't need a blind. They are so busy with the cherries that as long as I don't make any sudden movements, they don't take off. I can probably manage to get within 15 feet of the tree, if not closer.
Wow, that's awesome! I see them occasionally in the summer months, but not in large numbers. These guys were pretty tolerant of me and I probably could have done without the blind, but some of the other birds flying around get a bit more nervous.
Wow
Another fun video, I also really enjoy photographing the birds and animals in my back yard. I have a Mountain Ash tree that at this time of the year has a load of red berries that the birds love. We just got a dump of snow and I have been getting some great shots of the Anna's Hummingbirds in the snow. Our Anna's are here year round and it is amazing that they can survive in any kind of weather. Last winter when it was really cold I could count as many as 25 Anna's sitting in my big cedar tree. We get numerous species of birds in the yard throughout the year and also at times get Racoons. I am just waiting for the arrival of the Stellar Jays that show up every winter. I love your videos from the wilderness but it is nice to see that you also have lots of fun at home. Thanks again for all your hard work putting these videos together and it is so nice to see your number of subscribers climbing every week. Have a great week!!
Thanks so much, Keith! I bet you get some amazing photos when you get some snow with the Mountain Ash berries and the birds. Seems like an amazing combination. I've always found it fascinating that you get Hummingbirds year round, ours all left months ago. Stellars Jays are absolutely gorgeous birds, still working on photographing them though. I can't wait to see what images you get this winter! Have a great week!
I have a blind like yours and I've used it a good bit. But only in the back yard. We have about all the species of small native birds here that I would find out in the woods and fields and I can get closer and get a better variety shots here. So I do. I have one setup on our back porch. A scrap piece of plywood laid across a corner on the banisters. I put a wild cherry limb for a vertical perch with peeling bark at the back. Then I bored 1/2-inch holes and I loaded them with peanut butter. I also use seasonal plants, old roots, pieces of limbs, dried grass, weeds, etc to create a diorama feeding station. Some peanuts and sunflower hearts along with the peanut butter attract the birds and I can sit there and make fine pictures under the shelter of the porch roof. When I use the blind in the back yard I have to move it regularly or it will kill the grass. I have two or three locations to use.
That sounds like an awesome setup! I have a few bird feeders I keep around the yard, but I've never set up a feeding station like you described and I've never photographed the birds around the feeders, some good ideas to think about. I've noticed I get a lot of non native species when I fill the feeders with generic seed mixes, but when I do things like sunflower seeds, meal worms and cracked corn, the native species come in way more. I'm going to dedicate a section of my yard to be a native wildflower patch, I'm excited to see what species of birds I can get coming in to feed on them!
@@JimmyBreitenstein Good luck with your project, Jimmy. You can play it by ear and make changes as you feel like it. It is a project that will evolve over time. Don't forget that water is just as important as the feed all year round.
The waxwing tossing the berry shot was very nice. I'm looking for waxwings but haven't found them yet. We are on the very edge of their year-round range here in the northwest corner of SC but there should be some here during winter.
Thanks so much, I was pretty pleased with that clip myself! I'm glad I got these guys when I did, because I haven't seen much of them since. Best of luck to you in your search for them, they're such fun little birds!
Some good info, Jimmy. The Waxwings are beautiful for sure. I get a flock or two that stopover at my place every year on their way to, wherever they are heading. Been mostly moving snow here. Got lots of it so far this season. Have been photographing a few deer and a flock of turkeys that have taken up residence on my property. Have a good one now!
Thanks so much, Terry! I see them from time to time all throughout the year, but to me they just seem like winter birds 😁 I'm grateful for this snow we've been getting, we need it so badly. I'm glad you're finding some wildlife to photograph, always a fun challenge in the winter time. Have a great week!
As a coincidence I was also looking for (Bohemian) waxwings this weekend in my neighborhood, but sadly couldn't find them. Got a hare, white-backed woodpecker, hawfinch, fieldfares, blackbird and so on instead. At -10C temperatures the braches of small trees looked really nice under the birds and I don't consider this search a waste of time. Thanks for the tips! And I find the footage incredibly good. American waxwings look similar to the ones in Eurasia, but the difference is in the details and so Your video was so much fun to watch. Thanks for sharing!
Thanks a bunch, Ott! We have the Bohemian Waxwings here as well, but I've still never seen them. Sounds like you were able to see quite a few species, great job! It's such a wonderful time of year for bird photography, I think the cold really really presents a lot of opportunities to add different features into photos like frost, ice, etc. I hope you have a wonderful week!
Cedar Waxwings are fun to watch! They love their berries too! They have all gone south for the winter. I saw what I thought were a new to me species last August but then when I observed them bit longer they were juvenile Cedar Waxwings. A bit smaller, more gray and duller in color. I love the way they can look different in different lighting. I was down with Covid most of November and now I need some cold weather gear so I haven't been out shooting anything in a while now.
They really are amazing birds to watch and photograph! I saw a few juveniles in this group and they definitely look a little different, a little more drab and less flashy. I hope you're recovering well, have a wonderful week!
Great video. What hide do you use? Is it difficult to fold back up, by yourself?
Thanks so much! It's an ameristep popup blind, I've got a gear list with a link to it on my website (link in the description). It's really easy to fold back up by yourself after you've practiced a few times.
Thanks for the video, can you recommend a heated bird bath?
Thanks so much! The brand I have is Farm innovators. It's worked well, but there's a lot of other types out there.