A visitor from the North

The third week of November brought the first snow of the Winter. It didn’t last, snow rarely does here, a day of snow followed by a day of sleet and after that normal service resumed, back to our usual breezy mix of bright days and wet days. The gales that brought the snow also brought a surprise visitor to the garden, a Bohemian waxwing, a bird that, like the winds it arrived on, was born in the North.

At home they’re arboreal, a bird of Scandinavian forests, both coniferous and deciduous, and are occasionally seen here when an “irruption”, usually caused by a lack of Autumn berries in their homelands, will see them push further South. In the 12 years we have lived in Orkney we’ve witnessed just two such irruptions, the best was a few years ago and brought 35 birds to the garden. They stayed for almost a month, stripping Rowans of berries and eating us out of supermarket apples.

This bird though, an adult male given away by the sharply defined edges of the species unisex black bib, was alone and late. The rowans, stripped in October by Fieldfares and Redwings, are long since bare. Apples though are still put out every day, a treat for winter-resident Blackbirds and the occasional visiting Blackcap, and it’s to these, like bees to honey, that Waxwings are drawn. We hoped his arrival would bring an Earful, the slightly odd collective name for a flock of Waxwings. A term that’s believed to come from the second word of the birds latin name, Bombycilla garrulus, garrulus – to chatter.  Bombicilla is silk-hair, a reference to the birds feathers and crest. Their common name comes from a wandering lifestyle and red tipped wing feathers, the colour of medieval sealing wax.

No more arrived and we think he was likely an accidental visitor, pushed south by the winds that brought the snow. Waxwings have been rare in Orkney this year, one here, two there, only a handful of reportings. The bird stayed for ten days, feasting on half apples set on old rebar, placed a few feet from the kitchen window. Arriving in the pre-dawn gloom and not leaving until dusk. They’re very tolerant of humans, Jacqui is busy putting the garden to bed and as she forked and pottered, often within a few feet of him, the biggest reaction she got was a turn of the head and a raising of a pink punk-rocker crest. They’re beautiful birds with fine plumage that lives up to their silk-hair latin name but it’s also fair to say that they have a slightly grumpy and quizzical look to them, on the photo below a “what you looking at” thought bubble would be appropriate.

The bird left us on Friday, on the coat-tails of a gale from the South, perhaps a coincidence but more likely instinct, riding the winds back home to the North. I hope he finds his Earful.

10 thoughts on “A visitor from the North”

  3. Wonderful photos Gary and a feeling that you both gave this lonely bird some company. A lovely garrulus chatter from you in writing. Thank you Sue

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  4. Hi Gary, they are gorgeous aren’t they? Get them quite regularily down here and once spent a fruitless two hours, with my bird group, chasing round a local housing estate where they’d allegedly been seen! The trees were full of mistletoe and they are mighty fond of the berries.

    Had a fabulous few days in London seeing friends, theatre, exhibitions. I really miss the buzz, especially the South Bank, very nice down here in Dorset but oh so quiet and monocultural.

    Meanwhile its done nothing but rain, the summer drought seems a long way away! Just managed to dodge the downfall long enough to plant my tulips, some of which were looking decidedly mildewy.

    Cheers, Margot x

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    1. Hi Margot, yes they are, we put apples out every Winter and cross fingers that we will see them.

      Have to confess I’ve never visited London in a real sense, passed through a few times on the way to Brighton, back in the 80’s when I worked for British Rail, the only bit of London I saw was the tube at rush hour. Probably clouded my judgement at the time, we should really make the effort and visit properly, the NH Museum would be top of the list. Would also love to mudlark on the Thames foreshore but I’m pretty sure that needs a permit 🙂

      A mixed bag of weather for us, beautiful today but lots of recent gales and rain, Jacqui just about has the garden put to bed, all looks very bare at the moment!

      x

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  5. Bit late to this week! That bird really is very handsome. I went to the Cornell ornithology site and listened to their call – a lovely musical trill. They supposedly breed here in BC but I’ve never seen or heard one. I shall have to keep eyes and ears open.

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